By the 90s, the wheat was separating from the chaff. The really good authors from earlier periods were in their stride. The weaker ones dropped away. And we could still write about anything that caught our interest, so each book was a new joy.

By the naughts (love that term), the romance genre has become so mature that we’ve established multiple genres. Thousands more books are being published. Each author’s market is narrowed because readers cannot possibly read everything printed. This is where marketing steps in and the joy starts seeping away. This is also one of the reasons some really good writers have moved on to genres that allow them more creativity. Mature markets are tough to tackle.

Great discussion, thank you!

Betina Krahn: her Avons and early 90s Bantams are awesome
Katherine O’Neal: action-adventure historicals (stay away from her current releases though)
Lucia Grahame: The Painted Lady rests forever on my keeper shelf
Megan McKinney: Fair Is the Rose (a sequel to Lions and Lace, which I hated because it was so over-the-top), The Ground She Walks Upon
Jane Feather: Her entire V-series, her Bride trilogy
Katherine Sutcliffe: Jezebel
Suzanne Robinson: Lady Gallant, Lady Hellfire, Lady Dangerous, Never Trust a Lady
Jude Deveraux: The Awakening, The Raider, The Duchess

More to come…

But I must say, after examining my own hang-ups about my writing, I feel there is a lack of real joy in the romance genre. I think part of it has to do with how close and how quickly the internet brings us together. Before, authors relied upon (maybe) Romantic Times and a few others for reviews, they met up with one another at RWA’s conference each year, readers wrote them letters, etc etc. Much in the manner of motion picture studios wringing their hands over twitter,text messaging and facebook/myspace ruining millions of dollars of marketing with one line: “this movie sucked!”, I think authors feel a bit of the crunch of instant, forever-there feedback. In the 80s and 90s, it felt as though each word an author wrote was for the joy of it, of discovering where the genre would go with that one book, whereas today, it’s all about looking flashy enough to stand out above the crowd and not really making sure each book impacts or benefits the future of romance.

I’m sorry for being so thick-headed, but what cautionary tale? Isn’t authors’ movement like that part of the publishing life? Some of us don’t stay in the same profession for twenty years or even five years, so why authors should be any different? Sorry for being so dense. Clarification, please?

I could be wrong, but it struck me at the time as a real trend of many authors leaving the genre within the same time frame. I don’t think there is a similar movement going on now, and I don’t think there was one going on in the early 1990s, either. As I say, I could be wrong about that.

Re. what I’m cautioning — I think everyone can take whatever lesson they want to take from it, but for me, what I feel is that it if it happened before it could happen again and we shouldn’t take the current resurgence of the genre that Robin talked about for granted. And this is why I personally try to vote with my book buying $$.

Laura Kinsale — own them all. If I could ONLY save one it would be Flowers from the Storm. Beyond belief good.

Yeah, she is amazing.

Judith Ivory — disagree with choices. Only one in a fire? Untie My Heart … and it totally represents the romance of Russia, the Middle East … not to mention the beating heart of romance among sheep raisers.

Although it isn’t my favorite Ivory, it is on my shelf. The main reason I didn’t list it was because Katharine asked for 1990s books, and this one is from the early 2000s.

Patricia Gaffney — Agree agree. Wild at Heart is sexy, beyond belief different (virgin hero) and marvelous but again, the Fire question, I’m grabbing To Have and To Hold.

LOL. My adoration for THATH knows no bounds. I’m grabbing it in a fire too. Probably we should warn readers that it is very dark and very controversial.

Jude Deveraux — my fave, a pre-revolutionary tale, The Raider and the hero is F A T!

I had fun reading that book. Not sure if it was from the 1990s or the 1980s, but it was very funny.

Jane Feather — Disagree. House is burning down, grab VICE. The most nasty, selfish gorgeous duke ever!

Ah sorry, I like Virtue much better.

Try Beyond the Sunrise (Balogh) for a book set during the Napoleonic Wars

Thanks, I haven’t read that one — will have to get to it sometime.

I’ll have to scour my bookshelves again for my own unfamous recommendations, but I’m interested to hear about authors that were successful in the 80s and 90s and are now forgotten by the majority of the genre’s fans (like Arnette Lamb, Susan Andres, Katherine O’Neal, Lynn Kerstan, etc).

I don’t think I read any of them except one book by Kerstan which didn’t work so well for me. But feel welcome to post your recommendations — I’m sure other readers will enjoy them.

So far I’ve only read one Gaffney book, Sweet Everlasting, which I liked very much. Thanks for reminding me of this author, I totally ignored her in the last years.

Wow, you are in for a treat. I envy you, having all those books ahead of you.

I feel very close to Ibbotson, mainly because she’s Austrian (like myself) and often sets her stories in Vienna, the city of my heart *g*. It’s a pity her backlist isn’t that big.

Yes. She has some excellent books that were written in the early 1980s, too, but since this list was about the 1990s I didn’t list them.

Have to confess, I didn’t like Lions and Lace at all. IIRC it was the hero that went on my nerves, but all in all I only remember the author often using the word “Knickerbocker” which, in German, stands for folklorist leather trousers LOL.

LOL. Truthfully, this is one that no longer works for me as well as it used to, but I listed it because I know a lot of people still love it. That said, I have reread A Man to Slay Dragons, her contemporary romantic supsense from the 1990s, in the past couple of years, and I still love this book. It has a great hero and heroine, so I would say if you are only going to read one McKinney, make it this one.

Re. Judith McNaught

I never understood why her books worked so well for me, because most of her plots build on big misunderstandings… something I try to avoid whenever possible.

I think she is very good at evoking emotion, and also, the misunderstandings in her books are usually based on the hero being a cynical, mistrusting type to begin with. I think misunderstandings work better when they have some basis in the characters’ past experiences and personalities.

Ahh, god old Nora Roberts. I recently read Sacred Sins by Roberts, definitely one of her older romantic suspense titles, and someone said that her 90s titles read like historicals. Ain’t it true. But she rarely disappoints.

I really love the settings in some of her older titles. Sweet Revenge is probably my favorite of the ones I’ve read, for the revenge-motivated cat burglar heroine. I think she and the hero are so well matched.

Re. LaVyrle Spencer

I read a lot by her, but not all of her backlist. I will work on that one. My favourites are Vows and The Endearment. And some of her contemporaries are simply splendid, like the one where the heroine had very large breasts and has an operation.

Vows was great and I enjoyed The Endearment too. Haven’t read the contemporary you mention, though I think I’ve read quite a lot of her books.

Re. Iris Johansen

I have meant to read more by her for quite some time now. A long time ago I very much enjoyed The Golden Barbarian, an Arabian set story I (well, at least as far as my memories go) recommend heartily.

She wrote some very good romances though sometimes her books got a bit edgy. I think my favorite was Lion’s Bride though it’s been ages since I read it.

Re. Megan Chance

I never read her, her stories sound interesting.

They are very interesting, though they can get quite dark.

Wasn’t there also a Kleypas hero who was a recovering addict?

Can’t remember, but there may have been.

Re. Amanda Quick

My favourites are Desire, Mystique and Deception. I know, titles that don’t rank so high on the favourites list over at AAR.

I can’t recall if I have read Deception, but I did like Desire and Mystique.

I haven’t read many Baloghs but my two favourites are Heartless and Silent Melody. They belong into my top five historicals together with Garwood and the above mentioned Feather. I will have to work on her backlist.

I think I have Heartlesss TBR. Don’t think I’ve read Silent Melody. It’s amazing how many good books she has written. I love the emotional intensity of her older books.

Hasn’t Samuel written a mini series where in the next installment the previous hero dies? Something like 14 years later after they found together? Or do I mix her up?

I never heard about that, but I haven’t read all her books. Among her historicals, I’m only aware of one series — the one that began with The Black Angel and continued in Night of Fire (haven’t read the latter yet), which she never finished. For a long time a lot of readers were clamoring for more books in that series, so I doubt it was that one. Samuel also wrote a lot of books (many of them categories) under the name Ruth Wind.

Again, thanks very much, Janine! Some wonderful recommendations!

You’re welcome.

I would kill for a list of recommendable meaty romances from the nineties, especially with Alakan, South American, African or Australian settings. (PRETTY PLEASE!)

I’ll do my best to write a proper list (probably not as organised as Janine’s, I bet) in near future. Thanks.

@ Janine

I think the names of the authors you guys list as favorites from the 1990s tell a cautionary tale. Around the first half of the 2000s, there was a big migration of authors, many of them named in the above post, from romance to other genres. Patricia Gaffney, Candice Proctor, Megan Chance, Kathleen Gilles Seidel, Penelope Williamson, Patricia Ryan, Sandra Brown, Susan Wiggs and others all left romance for other genres. Others, like LaVyrle Spencer and (briefly) Loretta Chase, stopped writing.

I’m sorry for being so thick-headed, but what cautionary tale? Isn’t authors’ movement like that part of the publishing life? Some of us don’t stay in the same profession for twenty years or even five years, so why authors should be any different? Sorry for being so dense. Clarification, please?

@Lorraine

Another difference between today’s authors and those from decades past is that it seems authors back then didn’t just stay within one time period or one region. They explored the whole world. Check out Janine’s list of awesome…most of those authors showcased different eras. It seems many of today’s authors stick with the tried and true regency era England *yawn*.

Oh, that’s a good point. I think you may have pinpointed what I struggled to say. I thought it may be innocence or optimism, but I’m thinking it may be ‘adventurous’. In fairness, there were authors who stuck with certain periods or settings, such as Maryle Rodgers who wrote nothing but medieval romances (not my favorite setting) or Pamela Morsi who used Americana only for her historical romances.

As for the Irish medieval, I still remember the story (hero is forced to marry blind heroine, whom he doesn’t want to marry because of his fear that her blindness would pass down to their future children, but the heroine basically flips the bird at him, which annoys him), but not the author and title. I didn’t think of keeping a list at the time, I’m sorry.

~

I’m still feeling a bit bleary-eyed and sluggish from a bad cold, so this list isn’t completed and not all books are – I suspect – restricted to 1990s, but I hope it’ll do for now.

I should re-read all those before I list them, but if you are willing to read for the sake of reading experience, then I hope this list is helpful – especially for those who seem to believe that 1990s were nothing but bodice rippers.

Lorraine Heath – Always to Remember (probably the only romance that actually made me cry), Sweet Lullaby, Parting Glances
Gayle Feyrer – The Thief’s Mistress, The Prince of Cups (I also liked Heart of Deception (Elizabethan) under her other pen name, Taylor Chase, that she wrote a couple of years ago)
Lisa Gregory – The Rainbow Season
Suzanne Robinson – My Lady Gallant
Megan Chance – The Portrait, Fall From Grace, A Candle in the Dark… any, really.
Candice Proctor – the Australian one
Diana Norman – traditional Regency (leave Come Be My Love to last because the heroine has a couple of TSTL moments and the hero is an inconsiderate wanker)
Meagan McKinney – her heroes can be unfortunately jerks (even Vashon from Till Dawn Tames the Night), but the world in each book she created was quite amazing. Anyroad, I don’t think her books can stand the test of time well, so proceed with caution.
Penelope Williamson
Deborah Smith
Lauren Wilde (aka Joanne Redd) – Passion’s Springtime (as a romance, it’s not that good, but I enjoyed it because in spite of a couple of stereotypes, it was different)
Julia Ross
Connie Brockway – As You Desire
Teresa Mederios – Nobody’s Darling
Jo Goodman
Kristen Kyle (adventure romance readers may enjoy her books) – The Last Warrior, the Gold series, Nighthawk (futuristic romance)
Barbara Samuels
Beverly Jenkins – western historicals with awesome heroines
Katherine O’Neal – I can’t remember the title, but I liked the 1920s historical romance.
Danelle Harmon – again, can’t remember the title, but enjoyed the scholar hero book.
Betina Krahn
Cheryl Reavis
Marilyn Pappano – the Cattleman series, Passion (heroine hires former convict hero to kill her rapist), Suspicion, In Sinful Harmony, most of her category romances tend to be thought-provoking
Sandra Canfield – she dealt with social issues without being soapboxy about it – male rape, breast cancer, PSTD (military hero was tortured for a long period), etc. She was awesome.
LaVyrle Spencer – November of the Heart is my favourite
Pamela Morsi – Courting Miss Hattie, Runabout, Haven’t read Simple Jess but quite a few readers enjoyed this.
Elizabeth Grayson – can’t remember why I listed her here, but am leaving it in anyway
Carla Neggers – romantic suspense of the 1990s, e.g. Night Scents; I think she’s quite underrated.
Nora Roberts – Carnal Innocence, Honest Illusions
Maggie Osborne – The Portrait of Jennie; The Seduction of Samantha McKinade

Not a romance author, but if you’re into mysteries, read Kate Ross’s Julian Kestrel series set in Regency-era England.

Sorry for making the list so chaotic. It’s all off my head. I think I left a few more out, especially category romance authors and contemporary authors, and there may a couple that shouldn’t be on the list, e.g. Meagan McKinney. I think I’ll use this weekend to sit and write a proper and more organised list. :D
~~
Many thanks to all for responding to this thread because I truly enjoyed reading all these responses.

Janine did great. I just add one more name: Maggie Osborne. Not-your-typical frontier/western/American (Amazon to Alaska) historicals; but gritty, with emotional punches galore and unusual, imperfect heroines.

Alexa: Spanish Inquisition, sultan’s harems and oh my…

Lady Reluctant: pirates & high sea adventure

Emerald Rain: London lady does Amazon

The Wives of Bowie Stone: Kansas, hero chooses marriage of convenience over the hangman’s noose

The Seduction of Samantha Kincade: lady bounty hunter

The Brides of Prairie Gold: a mail-order bride wagon train

Promise of Jenny Jones: Mexico to California, a cussing, drinking female mule skinner in man’s clothes (picture Calamity Jane/Deadwood)

The Best Man: cattle drive

A Stranger’s Wife: An Old West Gothic, Colorado, heroine chooses to impersonate the governor candidate’s wife to escape Arizona desert prison

I Do, I Do, I Do: Gold Rush Yukon (*sigh*)

Silver Lining: Colorado mining community, with a heroine called Low Down… (*sigh*)

The Bride of Willow Creek: 1890s Colorado mining community

Prairie Moon: Post Civil War Texas to Atlanta

Shotgun Wedding: Colorado territory, heroine pregnant with an outlaw’s baby marries the town sheriff

Foxfire Bride: a lady scout

Laura Kinsale — own them all. If I could ONLY save one it would be Flowers from the Storm. Beyond belief good.

Judith Ivory — disagree with choices. Only one in a fire? Untie My Heart … and it totally represents the romance of Russia, the Middle East … not to mention the beating heart of romance among sheep raisers.

Patricia Gaffney — Agree agree. Wild at Heart is sexy, beyond belief different (virgin hero) and marvelous but again, the Fire question, I’m grabbing To Have and To Hold.

Jude Deveraux — my fave, a pre-revolutionary tale, The Raider and the hero is F A T!

Jane Feather — Disagree. House is burning down, grab VICE. The most nasty, selfish gorgeous duke ever!

Carla Kelly — Agree agree: can’t go wrong with anything by Kelly. Miss Whittier Makes a List, Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand, Reforming Lord Ragsdale — regencies.

Connie Brockway and Karen Ranney don’t often hit my re-read list unlike Balogh who I’ve memorized. Try Beyond the Sunrise (Balogh) for a book set during the Napoleonic Wars

Susan Wiggs — Yep, she rocks. Have ‘em all. I’d probably grab The Charm School.

Candice Proctor — Unbelievably good. Find and read and keep forever!! Night in Eden, September Moon (both 19th century Australia).

However, a few days ago, I picked up a Harlequin Famous First — Linda Howard’s TEARS OF THE RENEGADE. I have to tell you, if I had picked that up when it was first published I would never have gone near a romance novel again. (I have minimal tolerance for arrogant males, especially sexually arrogant males.)

I figure I am pretty lucky to have missed the 80s (and maybe the 70s as well). Any books I pick up at the library are unlikely to be pre-1990. As far as I can tell, the only things I have missed are some Carla Kellys and some good Regencies.

I don’t know if the golden age was the 1990s or the 2000s — I’ve read really good books from both decades — but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the 1980s.

Jaili: That’s the thing; the 1990s didn’t have just meaty epic historicals. To me, this type belongs to the 1980s and the 1970s. Historical romances of the 1990s were actually shorter than those from the 1980s and 1970s.

Yep, I agree. I only read historicals and paranormals so for me the golden age was the 1980s for just that reason, there were meaty historical epics for the most part.

Another difference between today’s authors and those from decades past is that it seems authors back then didn’t just stay within one time period or one region. They explored the whole world. Check out Janine’s list of awesome…most of those authors showcased different eras. It seems many of today’s authors stick with the tried and true regency era England *yawn*.

That was one of the things that made Johanna Lindsay so great back then. She wrote about the 19th century American West, medieval period, regency era, Russia, the middle east, and even a trilogy that takes place on another planet.

I remember buying two romances and when I got home, I was shocked to find one was a time travel romance and the other was a bloody Irish medieval (my least favourite time period).

@Jaili I love the medievals. That sounds like a great book…do you remember the name?

While I voted for the 1990s as my view of romance’s golden era, I do find it interesting that those who point to the past always recommend the same names (Ivory, SEP, Kleypas, Spencer, etc), names most are very familiar with even if they’ve never read them. I’ll have to scour my bookshelves again for my own unfamous recommendations, but I’m interested to hear about authors that were successful in the 80s and 90s and are now forgotten by the majority of the genre’s fans (like Arnette Lamb, Susan Andres, Katherine O’Neal, Lynn Kerstan, etc).

Many authors were dropped as the publishers merged and shuffled around. Names you might consider ‘big’ were shown the door in the hopes that the new names would generate bigger sales.

This is horrible, and what a shame. While researching book titles I quite often stumble upon authors whose bibliography stops around mid to late nineties. I honestly don’t runderstand the purpose behind this. Wouldn’t it make more sense to put money behind an already established author rather than to start from scratch? And is this still practise today?

Patricia Gaffney — To Love and to Cherish (mid-Victorian England), To Have and to Hold (mid-Victorian England; this is my favorite book in the genre, bar none, but very controversial), Wild at Heart (Gilded Age Chicago).

So far I’ve only read one Gaffney book, Sweet Everlasting, which I liked very much. Thanks for reminding me of this author, I totally ignored her in the last years.

Eva Ibbotson — Madensky Square (not quite a romance and from 1988, but OMG, it is great! And set in Vienna a few years before World War I). She also has a book from 1997 which I haven’t read, called A Song for Summer. I’m pretty confident it’s worth reading, though — she’s that good. This one is from 1997 and also set in Austria, but this time, shortly before World War II.

I feel very close to Ibbotson, mainly because she’s Austrian (like myself) and often sets her stories in Vienna, the city of my heart *g*. It’s a pity her backlist isn’t that big.

Meagan McKinney — Lions and Lace (Gilded Age New York), Fair is the Rose (Western set in the same time frame), and my personal fave, A Man to Slay Dragons, a mid-nineties contemporary romantic suspense set mostly in New Orleans.

Have to confess, I didn’t like Lions and Lace at all. IIRC it was the hero that went on my nerves, but all in all I only remember the author often using the word “Knickerbocker” which, in German, stands for folklorist leather trousers LOL.

Judith McNaught — Something Wonderful (1988, but who’s counting, it’s my favorite by her — regency England), Until You (Regency England), Paradise (contemporary US), Perfect (contemporary US).

I never understood why her books worked so well for me, because most of her plots build on big misunderstandings… something I try to avoid whenever possible.

Nora Roberts — Sweet Revenge (Variety of settings including Paris, Mexico, New York, California, England, and a made up Middle Eastern country), Public Secrets (England, Ireland, USA), Hot Ice (US, France, Madagascar!)

Ahh, god old Nora Roberts. I recently read Sacred Sins by Roberts, definitely one of her older romantic suspense titles, and someone said that her 90s titles read like historicals. Ain’t it true. But she rarely disappoints.

LaVyrle Spencer — Years (Western — early 19th century?), November of the Heart (Gilded Age resort in the Midwest), Family Blessings (contemporary, heroine is 45, hero is 30).

I read a lot by her, but not all of her backlist. I will work on that one. My favourites are Vows and The Endearment. And some of her contemporaries are simply splendid, like the one where the heroine had very large breasts and has an operation.

Iris Johansen — Lion’s Bride (Set during the crusades in the Middle East, I believe), The Ugly Duckling (romantic suspense), The Wind Dancer (Rome, don’t ask me for the exact era),

I have meant to read more by her for quite some time now. A long time ago I very much enjoyed The Golden Barbarian, an Arabian set story I (well, at least as far as my memories go) recommend heartily.

Megan Chance — A Candle in the Dark (Late 19th century Panama Rainforest — heroine is a prositute, hero is an alcoholic doctor), Fall From Grace (19th century western), The Way Home (also a 19th century western)

I never read her, her stories sound interesting. I will just pass on the alcoholic hero, I don’t like those. Wasn’t there also a Kleypas hero who was a recovering addict?

Amanda Quick — Don’t know if I’d call them meaty but I loved Scandal (19th century England) and also enjoyed Desire (a medieval set on an island).

My favourites are Desire, Mystique and Deception. I know, titles that don’t rank so high on the favourites list over at AAR.

Alina Adams — Annie’s Wild Ride, When a Man Loves a Woman — both contemporary and really interesting and different.

Now this one sounds great. Never heard of her, those are the recommendations I like best :-)

Jane Feather — Virtue (great book, England — regency or early 19th century)

Probably my biggest guilty pleasure read stems from her feather, Love’s Charade. It contains many plot ingredients I rarely enjoy but god do I love this romance. Next to some Julie Garwoods this one is definitely my favourite historical.

Elizabeth Chadwick — The Wild Hunt (medieval — Wales and England?). I also loved The Falcons of Montabard, a medieval set in the Middle East, but can’t recall if it’s from the 1990s or early 2000s.

Karen Ranney — Upon a Wicked Time (England, 19th century I think. Dark and controversial, but I loved it. She wrote many acclaimed romances in the 1990s but I haven’t gotten around to reading most of them.

I read one book by her which I remember being totally boring, and never gave her a chance afterward. What a shame, so many reader recommend her. I will try her again. Promise.

Mary Balogh — Gosh, where do I start? Dark Angel, Lord Carew’s Bride, Indiscreet, Snow Angel, Thief of Dreams, The Ideal Wife, A Precious Jewel, The Temporary Wife, Longing, Dancing with Clara, A Christmas Promise. Most set in England during the Regency but Longing takes place in Wales and Thief of Dreams is set earlier, not sure how much.

I haven’t read many Baloghs but my two favourites are Heartless and Silent Melody. They belong into my top five historicals together with Garwood and the above mentioned Feather. I will have to work on her backlist.

Barbara Samuel — Bed of Spices (Medieval Germany — German heroine and Jewish hero), Lucien’s Fall (Georgian England?), The Black Angel (Georgian England).

Hasn’t Samuel written a mini series where in the next installment the previous hero dies? Something like 14 years later after they found together? Or do I mix her up?

Again, thanks very much, Janine! Some wonderful recommendations!

I’ve often wondered if one of the reasons at least some of the authors I’ve listed left the genre or stopped writing altogether was because they found the changes in the romance genre (which followed the publisher mergers) restrictive

I started to say this in my other posts, but pulled it back because I didn’t want to be talking out of school. Many authors were dropped as the publishers merged and shuffled around. Names you might consider ‘big’ were shown the door in the hopes that the new names would generate bigger sales. One author was pretty open with me at the time about her struggles, despite critical respect and steady sales, to find a new home. (She eventually did) Some, I’m sure, went to ‘women’s fiction’ because they could get contracts there. There’s more than one author on my list that I’m desperate for a new book from (in that period) that I’ve been informed was dropped and hasn’t reemerged. I’m sure there are as many reasons as there are writers, but that was a common 90’s one from my conversations.

I don’t want to talk out of school either — this is mostly something I’ve wondered and cannot confirm in most cases (which is why I said “at least some of the authors” rather than just “the authors”). As far as confimation, I can only think of two authors I’ve heard this about. One through the grapevine, so I shouldn’t post who, as it’s hearsay and not something I’ve heard from her. But in the second case, Candice Proctor, I’m pretty sure she said in an article that used to be posted on her site that the inability to change settings in the romance genre as she had done in the past was one of the things that motivated her to start her Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series.

I’m sure you’re right though, about there being as many reasons as there are authors who stopped writing romance.

@ Janine – awesome list, I’m going to have to think to add to it.

Thanks!