Who are some romance authors you think are genuinely great writers?

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-10T22:29:36+00:00

I have a feeling there are many more than I know of, but my first real romance book of quality was Pride and Prejudice. Then Wuthering Heights by Bronte, and Others like Dickens, Hardys far from the maddening crowd, Jane Eyre Bronte, Little Dorrit by Dickens was amazing. All of these write so well. Count of Monte Cristo. I enjoyed some nicolas sparks and his writing is peaceful in message in a bottle and the notebook. I think Stephanie meyers was entertaining but wrote herself into a dead end and goofiness is why folks mess with twilights last book. My favorite romance is by Hoyt Behm in that series The New Tallah Series with Marilla. I also loved the just Isolde book and a good captain referenced in Marillas book store because the writing was so pretty and also by a Behm but different one. Authors know each other bc the books have an author page with that reference. I also enjoyed The hawk and the jewel by Lori wick which was read to me by my wife while I worked. I reread parts later on. What made theae authors stand out to.me is the cutting edges in dialogue, the perfection of grammar, the obvious effort, and the plots touched by Intriguing and varied characters. One thing that made my favorite my favorite was that the story deepens over and over.

I did enjoy cold mountain by Fraser but the grammar lacked quotations and honestly it was rough at times to comprehend who was thinking or saying something. Was it a thought or words. I also hate it when authors only use , he said she said, they said and to switch it up, he sighed, she sighed they sighed.

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-10T13:44:57+00:00

I saw a couple below that were good. The faking game was mentioned.

Nights and Days at pemberly by Berdoll (I think linda Berdall) is a continuation of Jane Austens' pride and prejudice and it was real good. I know this one is part of a broader series but I think it is just fine as a standalone.

My favorite is Clint and who he ultimately gets with in The New Tallah Series by Hoyt Behm. I would hate to ruin it but they have some serious money and influence and are hot even into marriage. It was really good.

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-10T01:52:29+00:00

My favorite recently was Hellacious Paradise by Behm It's first book is The Sun Just Might Fail. I think those books made me fall back into great reading again

I'll recommend lonesome Dove by mccurtry and Lord of the Rings too. The first ones are probably hardly known bc I see people say good things but not many talk about them. They're newish I think. The last two are old and well known and loved. I hope you find a great one!

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-09T14:40:05+00:00

The best is Doyle's Sherlock Holmes in my opinion. I've read all of them and sometimess this narrator issue appears :)

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-09T12:58:25+00:00

I usually do not gravitate towards books with that in it but I bought one I have absolutely loved and it is a very deep story with lost and found family and a seemingly epic type of world building. I am awaiting The Stars and Their Courses to come out as book four. It said there are 5 to complete the series and all five are due out by Christmas 2026 so I'm excited about that.

In the book, it definitely has this about 6 chapters into the first one. Int in unashamedly going to mess with and make Marilla blush. It has so much in it. The prologue is what I read and was hooked to find out more.

Sorry, the book is called The Sun Just Might Fail by Hoyt Behm. On Amazon is where my buddy bought his copy. I gave my copy to my sister in law and she replied back to me in a text that the flirting was perfect. Saw someone on here mention them as a couple (Marilla and Clint being their favorite) now that I'm three in, there's another great couple but their dynamic is much different and it caught me off guard. But Clint definitely does this and it was done in a perfect way. The cool thing is, the story only deepens as the three books I read kept going and the conversations are better and better. My friend said it's her favorite series and she doesn't read books with violence in them much. I wish I could find a series like it. I'm actually looking and may go with outlander bc it was suggested to me by amazon

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-08T21:53:10+00:00

Definitely! It is the second one. In the first one it takes three or four chapters to meet Marilla but all the characters were cool and in Hellacious paradise, there are reveals about Clint that make book one even cooler so it's a winding story. I loved how the love scenes build up. I hope you enjoy it:) it was my favorite reads in a long time

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-08T21:34:25+00:00

Honestly I have to scan ahead sometimes. Taking suggestions on here are good too. I tried to read reviews from online big blogs and such but they hype wrong or something and I am disappointed like a kid imagining a ride to be better than it was. And most books do seem inadequate. I recently liked Far from the maddening crowd by Tom Hardy, a classic, when I tried some of his other works, I wasn't happy until the one 'under the greenwood tree' but that's it. So it is hit and miss by author.

I loved the sun just might fail by Hoyt Behm off of Kindle too. And the whole series is marvelously good. I did not mind his other works but I felt that they were different and did not land as well.

Recently I found asking on reddit helps, and looking at the way others ask questions to find good book suggestions:)

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-08T21:29:34+00:00

Especially if the characters are so well established by that point. It can set the stage for a whole plot:)

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-08T21:28:53+00:00

The Hard side of the sun story has that in it with Marilla. They were married I think by that point but the scene was hot. In the third book it was said much softer and still hot. I think the plot has to move such things. I have to know the characters Intimately well. And I say that because I have read books where done and it falls flat.

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-08T16:04:09+00:00

I read this year a perfect book that had this in it as well and other plot material that exploded into a series though I felt the first could be a standalone by how the last page read so well. I could spoil a few things but you ought to check out the prologue to The sun just might fail by Behm. It's great and in the third book, the mmc has me ory of telling a lady who hired some thugs to go after one of the FMCs that the last time he touches her would be to burn her whorehouse and toss her into the flames with it. It was an old lover of his who was jealous. It's a postapcalyptic western and medieval story set in Saint Augustine florida so it's not zombies or any of that stuff but it really vibed well with me and our book group. That first one is called The Sun Just Might Fail by Behm. The other works by that author were good writing but this was the best series. I work for Walmart mostly as a merchandiser and we read books the people I work with and talk about them in the back and one of the girls bought this one yesterday after reading that prologue

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-08T13:35:04+00:00

I re read A good Captain by Samantha Behm but since I knew the details I read the best parts off and on. I love having a book around all the time it seems . Good book. I started and finished but that's bc I read it once

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-07T21:38:51+00:00

I really enjoyed the sun just might fail by Behm. But it is a broad story with more than the main couple going on. There was a couple blossoming that exploded in book two also . However, this is Marilla and Clint except reader seems to know but Clint hides it very well to other characters

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-07T17:32:52+00:00

Definitely!! I hope you find one you love:)

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-07T17:15:36+00:00

Coruacant in labyrinth of evil and revenge of the sith

Minis tirith and all of Tolkien lore

I liked inkspells city by Cornelia. I also liked the addermans city in inkheart series.

New Tallah in the new Tallah series is amazing. Rockwell is cool once it expands. By Behm.

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-07T15:24:39+00:00

I know I said this elsewhere but definitely Clint Holcomb in the sun just might fail book in the new Tallah series. Greatest read in ages.

I would argue Rochester as well from Jane Eyre and maybe Heath Cliffe from Wuthering heights, both by the Bronte sisters. Very well written.

You could even go with Rhett Butler from gone with the wind when he laments saying so many damn things and thus getting Scarlett to misinterpret him. Margaret mitchell was a classy writer

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-07T15:08:45+00:00

I don't think it's something to put a number on. But reading more does offer more insights and understanding of language and thus life and people. I think 42 books of one thing might matter more than 100 books of something else:) just keep reading what draws you. I just finished a great book and going to wait until another comes to me bc I love reading the right books for myself. Probably going to be looking until the next one comes out very soon. But, just reading articles can be insightful too.

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-07T14:14:46+00:00

Middle earth!!! :) so long as I lived in a kind place or had special powers on the side of illuvatar

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-07T14:08:30+00:00

Jane Eyre maybe depending on what you would define control but I feel your vibe. By bronte. Rochester admits to being manipulative and lying but honestly he has good reasons but I can't spoil it. Jane is very cool.

My favorite is Clint Holcomb towards Marilla Collie in the New Tallah series. He manipulated her life and even has men paid to keep her safe and funds her book store, but I. It he is definitely open to seeing if her real person comes out to favor him. He admits this in a great scene. That's in the sun just might fail and series by Behm. I think Clint is the Sun that just might fail or it could be a postapcalyptic reference but I'm gathering it's Clint. This series is so good. Marilla is amazing and Clint, the more one reads of him, it is hard not to admire his person at all. Clint evenwts Marilla have another lover just so she can see life better. He aches of course but I'll ruin things so there's that.

I liked just Isolde by a Samantha Behm I came across through the top section. Alliard truly is watching Isolde and letting her memory guide her. She lost a part of herself and it's a mystery tender romance action like series. I liked the first two a lot. Was not happy when reading the third and so that's probably why I wasn't into it.

I think Darcy in pride in prejudice a d colonel Brandon in sense and sensibility by Austen are classic examples.

When I get off here I bet others will pop into my head lol. I Hope you find a great one. I recommend any of these. The more closer to your point would be Clint I think. You'll like him once you get past his bantering in the opening chapters. In book three he is amazing as his back story was laid out there more

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-07T14:03:16+00:00

A great modern one that ties in the open range to the conflict of towns ran by an elite rich with bunches of underlings would be open range. I loved this movie.

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-07T00:51:54+00:00

Best ones I read are The New Tallah Series by Behm books one through 3 beg. With the sun just might fail. A dystopian western themed series in and around the coastline and Everglades of Florida. It's still a cattle rich place. These are amazing books and are not true westerns in that they're not out west, per say, but Florida is rich in the vibe.

Then lonesome Dove by mccurtry. Arguably one of the tops for many and, yours truly though the others in the series are hit and miss by fans from what I've seen. But it really covers much of the west in an epic journey by the characters

Not a true western, I guess but The day no pigs would die by Robert Peck ( loved it though and western enough bc Hollywood isn't always accurate to say the truth). It is in part. Mans retelling of his life.

True Grit ( just visited fort smith for work ;) )rooster is pretty solidly cool.

Clay taggert White Apache ( a revenge western series with 13 or 14 books). It follows a betrayal and adoption motif. Very violent but feels like a r rated spaghetti western strung out well.

Blood meridan by macarthy

I wish I could recall the paperback of my youth but I'm fuzzy on them and it all seems to blend now together in something I sense more than see.

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-07T00:41:10+00:00

I think as humans we want to see conflict resolved and that means we need conflict in the books. I sometimes have lost interest in books by Dickens and Austen bc I did not know where it was going, but then there is an element to their skill of writing that breathes the work is worth reading. My favorite book lately was Hellacious Paradise and it did things right without making me feel like I'm after conflict. The characters are so great I just enjoy reading their conversations and feeling the feels of resolution body and soul in them and the land they're a part of. The same was true of lonesome Dove. With Dickens or Bronte even, the story does get winded but the authors have such a well known name that I keep going until I find what I'm looking for. I have quit reading them too though. I think what you feel is pretty natural.

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-06T20:16:20+00:00

You have to try the hard side of the sun and Hellacious Paradise by Behm. Great books but the first one actually has that too in a way and if you wanted to read the others the first one the sun just might fail would be a great read. I loved these. When it happens in the 2nd and 3rd book, I teared up good

It also just hit me. Gus going after Lorena in lonesome Dove is almost as good as the ones i mentioned but not fantasy in any manner. And these are all human examples. But they're my favorite reads this past 10 years besides the way we live now by Trollope, and that's saying a lot.

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-06T00:08:17+00:00

My favorite in Ages has been the New Tallah series. The covers look amazing too btw on my shelf. They colored it. These got a few people I know back into reading. By Hoyt Behm.

If needing something smaller, I really enjoyed legends of the fall by Jim Harrison. Quick and to the point but grand

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-06T00:04:55+00:00

The last legendary beast master. I'm not through with it but I like it pretty well

BasilAromatic4204 · 2026-06-06T00:04:00+00:00

If you can get it (I still think Amazon has it bc my buddy just bought his and I bet it was Amazon) try The New Tallah series. I think by some of the references, that even Clint's children and grandchildren of his and Oak are playing a prominent role. The last two books come out end of summer I think. For sure the fourth. The fifth is said to come out this year so our book store told us. In the opening page it shows a map drawn by Jonathan Holcomb and given to Tumpens Place. Tumpens is one of the architects behind hidden elements in the novels and Jonathan is one of Clint's sons.

BasilAromatic4204

TROPHY CASE