I do really enjoy her collaborations with Bob. I find his voice very funny and interesting as well. And while I didn’t love DLD, I do really adore Agnes. Not as good as some of her single titles, but good in its own way.

I’m going to side with Keri M and say Susan Andersen is similar. I find her characters to be more angsty in the “big problem” scenes but she’s got good humor and is very lighthearted. Baby Don’t Go is one of my favorite re-reads.

I also really like Katie McAlister’s Aisling Grey series. They’re funny and action-filled with good dialogue and out-there characters. Although sometimes I do want to kick Aisling… but the hero is worth it. I didn’t enjoy the single titles I tried, but that may just be me.

I’m currently searching some of the other authors suggested here. Thanks for all the suggestions guys! And thanks for a great Crusie run-down that makes me need to read Bet Me again : )

Kaetrin,

I’m curious… are you thinking Sizzle will be inferior reading? If so, I’m betting you’ll be very pleasantly surprised when you do locate a copy.

It’s a very good story for its kind. She did a fine job with 100 pages. It’s not profound or life-changing, but it’s definitely an excellent diversion for an hour or so, and a very satisfying read. It also has some really great lines in it, like (explaining why she dumped an ex), “because he has the attention span of a fruit fly and the morals of a mink.”

Granted, mine — I believe she does them *all* this way — is signed, “Diane, please burn this book. Thank you. Jenny Crusie,” but I always thought it’s more because of bad feelings over the way Harlequin treated her in contracts than because of any serious dislike of the story. I could be wrong, tho. Maybe she does really dislike the book. ::shrug::

But I would have to respectfully disagree with her. LOL

I’m sure there are some things in there worth tweaking, but it definitely stands on its own merits, as is.

Diane
apologizing in advance for any and all typos, since I can never see them until after the editing time has elapsed

If you like Loretta Chase and Georgette Heyer, you should definitely check out Sherry Thomas. I found both Private Arrangements and Delicious to be intelligent and entertaining.

And I couldn’t agree with you more about Naomi Novik — I love the Temeraire books.

I also disagree that her heros are Alphas. I don’t think they are, unless my idea of Alphas has been so destroyed by the thousands of rakes with giant muscles out to pummel the nearest man because he looked at the heroine. I get more than a little tired of the hero as Strongest!Man!Ever! who can beat five men with his bare hands blah blah blah. None of Crusie’s heros annoy me in this manner.

Also, if I am not mistaken, don’t all her books take place in Ohio? I think they do.

And Moth, the same goes for Georgette Heyer; as you say, she is in the same vein of wonderfulness when it comes to incorporating humor in her books. I’ve also started on Bujold and so far am liking her writing a lot.

I don’t expect every page to be hilarious, but for me a good book has to be an intelligent read, which is kind of hard to define. I’ll be checking out a number of the recommendations that have been offered above.

And one final recommendation of my own: just lately I’ve discovered Naomi Novik, who’s written a delightfully subversive series, the Temeraire books. It’s dragons fighting in the Napoleonic wars and the series is often summed up as Master and Commander meets the Dragons of Pern, but it doesn’t take any great analytical perception to see that it is fundamentally about the evils of intolerance and discrimination. And the books are just LOADED with intelligence and wit.

As for contemporary authors like her, I can’t really think of any. If you want to look at historical authors, I think Loretta Chase may come close. They have quite distinct voices, but both have strong heroines, snappy dialogue, plots propelled by both character and action, and both strike me as smart in all senses of the word.

Yay to you for suggesting Bujold! I should have thought of her.

Thanks everyone else for the great suggestions! I’m going to have to try some of these authors.

I don’t usually read contemps. They seem too unrealistic- Kwitney’s suffered from this hard core (especially Dominant Blonde)…(although the romance novel scenes in Does She or doesn’t She are spot-on and hilarious- too bad the rest of the book is a wall banger for me) but I love Crusie. Agnes, Faking It, Bet Me…these have become some of my all time favorite books ever.

I can’t recommend any comtemp authors like Crusie but I would say that if you’re looking for a similar level of satisfaction (with humor, hero, relationships, quippy dialogue, etc) you could do worse than to try some Georgette Heyer (The Unknown Ajax, The Talisman Ring and Cotillion) or maybe even some of Lois McMaster Bujold’s SF (A Civil Campaign or Cordelia’s Honor). Crusie, Heyer, and Bujold all kind of tap similar chords for me when I read them. And all of them reside with much love on my keeper shelves.

I love this thread by the way. I can’t wait to try some of these recommended reads. :D

The Quinn brothers series is SO good. You have such a treat ahead of you.