#robert kincaid

[scenephile]

The old dreams were good dreams...

[j-tillow]

[davidtennantgenderenvy]

The Doctor and Rose - One Second and a Million Miles

Get the tissues Whovians this one’s a doozy

[sonsun92]

“I live with dust on my heart.”

An excerpt from ChatGPT regarding a line in a letter written by Robert Kincaid to Francesca Johnson in the novel The Bridges of Madison Country:

“By stating that he lives with dust on his heart, Robert Kincaid suggests that his heart is burdened, covered, or weighed down by something unresolved or unfulfilled. The "dust" represents the accumulation of emotional pain, regret, or unfulfilled desires. It signifies the remnants of past experiences or relationships that have left a lasting impact on him.

The phrase also implies a sense of isolation or a lack of emotional connection. Dust is often associated with neglect or abandonment, suggesting that Robert Kincaid feels emotionally detached or distant from others. It conveys a sense of longing for a deeper connection or emotional fulfillment that has eluded him.

In the context of the letter to Francesca Johnson, who has been a rare source of connection and love for Robert, he is expressing his vulnerability and the depth of his emotions. He is essentially saying that despite his experiences and the burdens he carries, Francesca has managed to reach his heart and bring it to life.”

[guitarpedal]

WHY ARE THERE SO FEW PATRICK DEMPSEY CHARACYER FICS SOMEONE SEDATE ME

[lunastar92]

Patrick Dempsey!

Sexiest Man!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Cloud formation over Palmer Park, Colorado Springs, CO. Photo: Christine Miles Kincaid (June 28, 2023) :: [Robert Scott Horton]

* * * *

"follow the cloud to a new place. see the grace in undoing everything you’ve done."

from “moving” in There Is a Future: A Year of Daily Midrash by Amy Bornman, p. 43

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #311: The WEAKEST POINT

December, 1989

Hydrobase DESTROYED!

Right from Atlantis Attacks to Acts of Vengeance?

Ugh. Marvel really was trying to shake all the quarters out of its audience in 1989. And then the trends of the 90s with special covers and new number one's galore? And then bankruptcy because the big comic companies had poisoned their own waters with that kind of behavior?

I'm getting ahead of myself.

I covered all of Atlantis Attacks because the Avengers and West Coast Avengers chapters wouldn't make any sense in isolation.

I am NOT covering all of Acts of Vengeance.

I counted 50 participating issues before I gave up! That is so much! And it's not really an overarching story so much as... like a vibe? A vague theme?

Villains attacking people they don't usually villain because some masterminds think that would give them a better chance of winning.

A flawed premise because in Marvel, the idea of a strict rogues gallery is a lot more loose. Since a huge chunk of the superhero populace operates out of New York, everybody just kinda shares.

I mean, sure, some of the match-ups that took place in Acts of Vengeance were unlikely. But they were match-ups that could have eventually happened just because Superman Doesn't Stay Out of Gotham in Marvel, if you catch my point.

As the bridge between all of Marvel, the Avengers are pretty likely to eventually fight anyone.

Anyway, I'll only be covering the Avengers and Avengers West Coast. If I try to cover everything I will die.

Also, I covered Atlantis Attacks first because Hydrobase/Avengers Island shows up in it and then (spoilers) it gets destroyed here in issue #311.

Remember how I kept saying enjoy the island while you could?

Yeah...

;_;

Look at Avengers Island in that opening splash! The runway and roads form a sorta A shape. That's just cool!

That's the coolest the island has ever looked because other aerial shots have been pretty barren or have only showed the Avengers Mansion.

Sadly, Avengers Island never really got a chance to shine. Introduced by Stern before he got unceremoniously booted by editorial meddling and barely utilized by Walter Simonson since his run barely got off the ground. John Byrne seemed like he was going to do something with it when his run started because he had the island moved closer to New York and renamed from Hydrobase to Avengers Island.

But it got hoisted out of the sea (somehow without being majorly damaged) in the Lava Men trilogy and then wasn't really important in the Gilgamesh Is Dead trilogy and now here we are where (spoilers) its going to be destroyed.

I'm jumping the gun a little bit to eulogize but it's been a recent them of the Avengers books that interesting ideas just don't get a chance before they're taken out back and shot.

Captain Monica as the chairwoman of the Avengers. The Worst Roster. Avengers Island.

There's always someone smacking the book and yelling at it to stop trying new things.

Anyway. My unending sadness aside, this is a Quasar focus issue.

I'm not really sure when he became an Avenger because he just started showing up as one when Cap announced the Every Avenger Is An Avenger roster. So either sometime in another book or he was just nearby when Cap was gathering people and got included to pad out the numbers.

(Apparently, there was a back-up story in Avengers Annual #18 set between Avengers #303 and 304 showing that Quasar got invited to join after the Super-Nova incident. Captain America and Hawkeye fight over him. It sounds like a fun story. But I read Avengers Annual #18 for Atlantis Attacks and sometimes back-up stories are omitted on Unlimited and whoops this is one of those times.)

Quasar shows up at Avengers Island after participating in another Acts of Vengeance over in his own book.

Speaking of ideas that never really got a chance to shine: the Avengers Support Crew finally show up!

With the Avengers getting a whole island as their headquarters, some noise was made in Simonson's run that they'd be hiring more of a support crew than just Jarvis. Mostly characters from Captain America's orbit.

But with Simonson leaving the book, not a lot was done with that idea. Until now! The very issue that the new, bigger headquarters they were hired to help with is going to sink!

Hahahaha ;_;

Anyway. We have Robert Frank Jr - Nuklo from Giant-Size Avengers #1. Son of the Whizzer and Miss America (not the modern one). He was cured of being excessively radioactive and got hired to be a groundskeeper on Avengers Island.

We have Peggy Carter. I don't need to explain Peggy Carter. She fought in World War II and was Cap's sometimes girlfriend. Then he started dating her niece instead. Which is a very normal thing to do, probably. She was hired to be in charge of telecommunications.

There's Fabian Stankiewicz. Good ol' Mechano-Marauder! That dingus that kept building robot suits to attack the Avengers and he was treated as a bit of a joke villain? Even getting beaten once by David Letterman. Yes, David Letterman. Cap saw potential in him anyway and hired him to maintain and improve the Avengers' technology.

There's M'Daka, a Wakandan pilot that delivered Captain America a new shield once. And apparently this made such an impression on Cap that he poached the guy from T'Challa to work for the Avengers as a mechanic.

Michael O'Brien, the former head of security for Project PEGASUS and later the Vault and was hired as head of security for the Avengers. Given the stuff that happened at Project PEGASUS and the Vault, I don't know if he's great at his job. But also the Avengers aren't great at security sometimes so its a lateral move, at worst.

Jarvis, of course, is on the payroll as butler and delightful human being. I assume he gets paid extra for being so delightful.

Keith Kincaid, husband to Jane Foster, was hired as a doctor so the Avengers wouldn't have to rely on mysterious Doctor Donald Blake just showing up whenever there's a medical emergency. And presumably to make Thor feel bad whenever he has to look at the dude that married his girlfriend because his dad made them break up.

There's also Donna Maria Puentes, a South American revolutionary that impressed Captain America with how good she was at shooting Nazi androids. So he hired her as an administrator.

Take this with a grain of salt because I'm also the person looking forward to the Avengers' 90s team jackets but I think the blue jumpsuits and red turtlenecks are a very spiffy look for the support crew.

I honestly like the idea that as a bigger, more officially recognized super-team, the Avengers would have a support staff. And since security is very hard for superheroes, it's mostly people that Captain America already knew.

This issue really goes into some depth about how Avengers Island normally operates. There's guys doing landscaping. There's guys in a security room spotting Quasar arriving and making sure the system confirms his arrival via retina pattern and fingerprints. Then they watch him as he makes his way through the Mansion towards the communication room.

When he gets there Peggy Carter tells him that she's getting reports from all over that superheroes are getting attacked by people they've never faced before.

She won't call it a plot without more evidence but she definitely is thinking the word plot very loudly.

Elsewhere, a mysterious (Loki) man in a suit sits on a throne flanked by two fancy braziers (it's Loki) spying on the Avengers' communication room with magical scrying (Acts of Vengeance plays this up as a mystery but it's Loki, you know it, I know it, and he knows it).

Definitely Loki meets with a mysterious green cloaked figure (Dr Doom, obviously) and ... Shredder from Ninja Turtles? Or maybe the Mandarin? And there's a lot of Everything Transpires How We Planned and yeah we're definitely all going to try to betray each other between them.

Definitely Doom says that he's set in motion his part of the plan.

Anyway, Peggy Carter just finishes telling Quasar that she hasn't been able to contact any of the other Avengers when Avengers Island starts to shake.

Peggy checks on the security monitor and OH NO

Dozens of robots are smashing holes in the flotation cushions that keep the not-an-island Avengers Island floating!

Since it's just Quasar and the support crew (despite the lying cover featuring Thor, Namor, She-Hulk, Sersi, and Captain America! That's a lot of lying, even by cover standards!), it's an all hands situation.

The non-superpowered people all grab laser rifles from gun lockers, Fabian gets into his latest battlesuit, and Quasar flies out and starts blasting robots.

I'm of two minds here, re: the Acts of Vengeance conceit.

The Avengers have fought Doom before. He's not showing up personally, just sending some robots. But I think it counts. So Doom attacking the Avengers with robots isn't a match-up they haven't had before.

But most of the actual Avengers are off busy somewhere. I don't think Quasar has fought Doom. So Quasar and the Avengers Support Crew versus some Doom robots that aren't Doombots is a novel match-up.

The support crew and Quasar blast the bots to pieces but the disembodied limbs keep attacking.

Rocket punch!

That ol' Doom sure knows how to build a robot.

Even as the support crew and Quasar blast bots, more continue to punch holes in Avengers Island.

MEANWHILE, SPACE.

Which is a thing you have to say when reading comics.

Starfox sneaks aboard Nebula's spaceship to find out what his supposed grandniece is up to. He pleasure zonks a guard unconscious and steals his environment suit so he can be INCOGNITO.

He finds his way to the bridge where Nebula and her Rigellian minion Gunthar are looking over the tablets they recovered from Omicron Seti, which hold in their ancient carvings A SECRET THAT DETERMINES THE FATE OF THE UNIVERSE. A secret that will make her scarier than Thanos.

But she'll need Paul Harker, that random old man scientist the book has kept cutting to. The one who blew up his own basement with his new invention? That guy.

The one subplot the Avengers book has been dutifully building up.

Back at Avengers Island, the support crew is getting overwhelmed. Even Stankiewicz in his battlesuit.

BUT DAMMIT THEY WON'T GIVE UP. THEY HAVE TO PROVE THEY'RE WORTHY OF CAP'S TRUST!

Wow. Cap picked well. These guys really want to live up to what he saw in them.

Quasar sees some of the robots messing with the big Quinjet fuel storage tanks but he's able to chase them away pretty easily. Too pretty easily...

But he literally doesn't have time to worry about that.

He sends Peggy Carter to go back to the communications room and try again to contact the Avengers. Despite Peggy telling him the emergency signal has been going since the attack started.

Peggy worries that the Avengers are already dead, since she wasn't able to raise them before the attack. But she's not going to think about it!

The robots retreat but the island is already sinking.

Quasar doesn't know whether this is a trick or not but he decides to use the breathing room anyway.

He orders an evacuation and orders the support crew to try to prepare as many of the Quinjets for launch as they can reasonably save.

Then he dives into the water to check to see if Hydrobase Avengers Island can be saved.

And. No.

No, it can't.

Every one of the flotation cylinders has been ruptured and has taken on water. There's just not enough time to patch all the holes before the island completely sinks.

Quasar does create a giant brace with his green lantern-ish powers to stabilize the island.

I wonder why he doesn't make a jack to lift it completely out of the water. He's thrown an entire Terminus into space once.

For that matter, weren't giant spikes put into Avengers Island to keep it in one place? Where are those and wouldn't they help keep the island afloat?

I guess that got lost in the shuffle.

O'Brien rushes into the mansion (where the flooding is ruining all of Tony Stark's art and rugs) to look for Peggy Carter. Who you may recall was sent back into the Mansion to try to contact the Avengers despite an automated distress call going out.

Way to manufacture drama, Quasar.

Peggy insists at staying at her post, continuing to try to contact help. Like she thinks she's on the Titanic or something. But O'Brien lies and says that the Avengers are here so c'mon lets hustle.

Then the secret bomb that the robots secretly left at the fuel tanks unsecretly explodes.

Knocking Quasar for a loop and rendering his plan to stabilize the island moot.

There's just no chance of saving the island now.

But Quasar does pop out of the water to save O'Brien and Peggy and carry them to the Quinjet Jarvis is piloting.

Hi, Jarvis!

Jarvis: "I only wish we had never removed our headquarters from New York City. Then, perhaps... nothing like this... could ever have happened. The proud history of Avengers Mansion would not have ended like this..."

Jarvis, I love ya, but shut up. You sound like you're speaking from the editorial, not from the heart.

Don't forget that y'all moved to the island in the first place because the Masters of Evil basically gutted Avengers Mansion. You might as well say 'I only wish we'd moved out to sea earlier so nothing like this could ever have happened' about that.

And like I said at the beginning of this post, Avengers Island was not a mistake. It was a new direction for the book that never got a chance to shine before someone lost their nerve and forced a change back to status quo.

Because, yes, before too long, Avengers Mansion will be rebuilt back in Manhattan.

And I like Avengers Mansion. Honestly, it's my favorite HQ for the team. But I wish this era wasn't characterized with timid backtracking.

Aside from that, this is a cool issue. Seeing the civilian support staff and Quasar have to defend the base while the Avengers are absent is pretty interesting.

I disagree with the sinking of Avengers Island but it does give Acts of Vengeance some impact. Although it can't compare to the last big HQ wrecking, Avengers Under Siege.

Anyway. Quasar says he gets the feeling this whole thing isn't over. And he's right. There's two more Acts of Vengeance in Avengers and three in Avengers West Coast.

Four in Avengers Spotlight but I don't read that. It says Avengers on it but it's like Two-in-One or Marvel Team-Up but with Hawkeye.

Follow @essential-avengers. Like and reblog. Shout to the wind. Howl like nobody's watching.

[mikelogan]

Mason: I’m an opportunist? Thirty-eight people were shot in court rooms last year. The show you’re staging is no different than mine.

Ben: This is not a show. You have a camera, I have Attica.

[scenephile]

We are the choices that we have made.

[j-tillow]

[heartfe1t]

@inspotlight

"you’re out of your fucking mind.”

ava raises an eyebrow, staring at nini pointedly.   ❝    i'm out of my mind? because i'll say it again nina.   ❞    she bites off her words, as sweet as she almost sounds in her tone of voice.   ❝    you're not the only girl in this room who knows what he likes. and i think if you're going to be talking about this little outfit situation out loud with your friend on facetime, i may as well offer my opinion.   ❞   she shrugs, there's no sense trying to get this girl to like her, she doesn't care if she does or doesn't. besides, she'd pretty much burned that bridge with ricky, though things had been arguably mostly amicable on the split itself. his now girlfriend... definitely isn't going to like her. they just have to put up with each other a little while longer, rooming together for the competition out of a coincidence of fate...

[sonsun92]

In a universe of ambiguity, this kind of certainty comes only once, and never again, no matter how many lifetimes you live.

[tzigone]

KF:TLC post-series (fic) thoughts

I was thinking about post-series and things I'd like to see.

Obviously, Paul's return would be a cool thing. I've read several variations on this. I feel like thematically, he needs to return of his own volition once he's defeated his inner demons. But that doesn't make as exciting a story as his life in danger, I know. I do think it needs to be a little bit - not happen right on the heels of Peter leaving the force.

I'd like to see more stories (even set during series) featuring on Peter and his sisters when Peter is adult. They show up in kid-Peter fics, but rarely in adulthood.

Laura to be dead. I haven't seen the finale in many, many years, and don't recall the details, but I don't like her being alive. I mean, Caine and Peter being alive when the other thought them dead was part of the series premise, but her too just seems to go too far (not that Matthew didn't already). It actually might be interesting to see Caine being manipulated/led down the wrong path and Peter as the one with clear vision on the matter. But, like I said, can't recall the specifics. Though, I do think Peter needs time to settle in to being the Caine of Chinatown, so people become used to coming to him for help before his dad comes back.

I'd like to see Peter and Jordan and Jody relationship dynamics addressed. Without Jordan as a bad guy. I actually ship Peter and Jody (I know many don't), but even under the goodbye-ish circumstance of him leaving the station, kissing Jody like that in the precinct while still with Jordan last she knew (at least as far as I can recall) is a real shit move of Peter's. The gossip will be terrible.

Okay, they aren't main characters, but more followup on Karen and her son or Kermit and his would be cool. I admit I'm way more into Karen's relationship with Todd. I'm a big Simms fan, and I totally crushed on Todd when I first sow the show as a teenager. Plus, she's seemingly going to end up adopting a baby, so there's a whole new dynamic.

I want a story where TJ Kincaid does manage to pull back the woman he loved from the darkness. He can have Peter, Caine, or Lo Si as his supernatural support, but I want it to be be him that does it.

[heartfe1t]

    ❝    you're real mature, aren't you?    ❞    she laughs, another roll of her eyes.    ❝    whatever planet i came from- are we nineteen or twelve?    ❞    but then, she can tell ricky's happy. maybe she doesn't like that- on some level. maybe there's some regret there, with what happened... or maybe she just- doesn't like nina- nini... whatever.    ❝    cool. i'll be out of here long before that, trust me.    ❞    as she gets comfortable in her bed, not even looking at the brunette girl besides briefly as she reaches over to the nightstand to grab her eye mask.    ❝    if you're not going to let me put the lights out now then you're going to have to do it yourself when you're done.    ❞    and with that she rolls back over onto her side, pulling the mask over her eyes, and pulling the covers up. nini can talk about her to her boyfriend as much as she wants as long as she keeps the noise down. they both just have the discomfort of knowing he was ava's too at one point.

❝    i    don't    know    what    manipulation    tactics    they    taught    you    on    whatever    planet    you    came    from.    ❞    she    says,    fingers    tapping    away    quickly    at    her    phone,    a    wall    of    text    being    typed    out    to    ricky.    she    hated    that    she    always    had    to    room    with    ava.    it    was    getting    old.    the    farther    she'd    fallen    for    ricky,    the    more    she'd    hated    the    girls    who'd    dated    him    before    her.    ❝    you're    right,    though,    i    don't    care.    ❞    well,    at    least,    she    tried    not    to    care.    it    was    hard    not    to    care,    though.    she    loved    ricky    so    much    and    even    though    she    hadn't    liked    him    very    much    while    he    had    been    with    ava,    the    hurt    the    girl    had    caused    him    felt    personal    to    nini.    like    she'd    have    been    able    to    prevent    it    had    she    just    gone    to    ricky    and    asked    him    if    he'd    actually    hooked    up    with    sadie    that    day.    ❝    our    practice    starts    at    noon.    ❞    she    says    as    she    sticks    her    airpods    in    her    ears    and    hits    the    button    to    dial    ricky's    number.    she    was    much    quieter    as    she    said    hello    to    him    and    snuggled    down    into    her    bed,    telling    him    she    just    wanted    to    fall    asleep    with    him.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Hi! Do you by chance have any kind of reading list for newbies to romance who want good examples of common tropes & an understanding of how the genre has evolved over time? Or recs for iconic titles and pioneer authors in the genre? I know Nora Roberts and Danielle Steele are everywhere but are they really the best place to start?

I can offer some recs/guidance! My word definitely isn't gospel and I have my blind spots—I try to read diversely, but I can always do better and am a white, cis, physically abled woman.

Soooo in terms of Nora and Danielle, I'd say yes to trying Nora, no to her necessarily being the best START, and personally I don't care for Danielle's books. But that's a pure taste issue, and the big thing is that the vast majority of Nora's books are romance (more recently, she's been published some dystopia/fantasy-bent stuff with romantic subplots while still publishing romance, I believe, and she's been publishing her In Death series, which is romantic suspense with some sci-fi elements, for years as J.D. Robb) whereas a lot of Danielle's books aren't. The first Danielle Steel book I ever read as a kid was pitched as a romance. It wasn't, and I hated it.

Nora is very good, but I do think she can be a bit overwhelming for new readers just because she's been through so many eras. She also has a very distinct voice, and you're either gonna be into it or you aren't. Nora writes a lot of trilogies, which will sometimes offer standalones and sometimes reeeeally read as interconnected series that happen to focus more on one of three couples per book (while the other couples still stay on as strong supporting characters). See my favorite books I've read by her, the Circle Trilogy. It's paranormal romance with a strong fantasy element. While each book centers one of of three couples, the books must be read in order and all feed into this overarching "save the day" storyline.

But to cut to the chase... Here are some books that can offer you an intro "sampler".

Iconique Classiques

A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught. This medieval romance is enemies to lovers where they're LEGIT enemies to lovers, with a delightfully complicated heroine. It's a great example of Judith McNaught, who is a foundational author, and despite being written in the 80s (with all that entails) it holds up really well.

The Bride by Julie Garwood. Another foundational medieval with a "oh, this is 80s but it hjolds up" vibe. Arranged marriage with a classic medieval setup: the Border Marriage! (Scotland x England marriage for political purposes.) Alec Kincaid is an EXTREMELY influential hero, and this is just such a fun book.

Indigo by Beverly Jenkins. Beverly Jenkins isn't by any means the only author who's written historical romances about Black characters, but she's perhaps the most influential and probably the historical romance novelist wh does the most research in general. Her writing is gorgeous, and this book focused on a practical heroine who ends up in over her head after she nurses an infamously rakish Underground Railroad conductor back to health is just so romantic.

A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux. This is a really interesting romance, again very 80s but still good (imo). It focuses on a heroine in the 80s who goes to a church to cry wishing for a knight in shining armor after being abandoned by her douchey fiance. Then a literal medieval knight literally time travels right before her eyes. And he's also a douche lol. But a hot one!

Johanna Lindsey is also a very influential author in the genre, but a lot of her big CLASSICS are more noncon-leaning. A big one is Prisoner of My Desire, in which the heroine is forced to rape the hero in order to get pregnant (he later does the same to her in revenge... and then they fall in love). Kathleen E. Woodiwiss's The Flame and the Flower also features the hero raping the heroine, and it's also a classic. I won't get into it on a request post, but if you want to explore the genre more academically~ and are okay with reading noncon, I'd encourage checking out these and/or McNaught's Whitney, My Love. They're good books, imo, but the reality is that consent issues are a part of the genre's history, and that books with consent issues did and DO appeal to many romance readers for reasons that I think relate to the genre's appeal in a big way.

Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Susan Elizabeth Phillips did a lot to work towards the contemporary romcoms of today, except her books are often a lot more romantic and a lot funnier. This one is also generally WILD with a super dickish alpha hero who takes the heroine (who was forced to marry him by her dad) on a jaunt around the country with a TRAVELING CIRCUS. It's crazy. It's extremely fun. It's WILD.

To Love a Dark Lord by Anne Stuart. This is another historical, and to me it shows a lot of the early seeds of dark romance. You have a shady hero, a deal with the devil, and high stakes throughout. Stuart writes the biggest assholes for heroes, but this one is on the softer side for her.

Contemporary

Reel by Kennedy Ryan. Kennedy is one of the best in the biz! This book focuses on a famous director who falls for the up and coming actress he's chosen to star in his passion project. But she has a secret that could come between them. It also has a unique quality in that it goes back and forth between their story and the movie "script", which tells its own love story.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert. The first in Hibbert's funny, feelings-y, and hot Brown Sisters trilogy. Showcases a heroine with chronic pain who decides to get a life (as the title suggests) witht he help of her hot neighbor.

Lush Money by Angelina M. Lopez. A super unique billionaire romance with a Latina heroine who is in fact the billionaire, making a very unique deal with a prince in need...

How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang. A successful author sets out to have her books adapted into a TV show, only to find out that one of the writers on the show is a man who was pulled into her sister's suicide when they were teens. (Basically: her sister jumped in front of his car, it was by no means his fault but the heroine and her parents hated him for it.) They can't resist their chemistry as adults, and begin a short-term no-strings thing that obviously... is a lot more. SUPER emotional, super hot, would recommend 100000%. READ THIS OVER EMILY HENRY. IMO.

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid. A great way to try sports romance, and a particular niche of sports romance called hockey romance, and a particular niche of hockey romance called GAY hockey romance. One of the only hockey romances I'm into, about a pair of longtime rivals who've secretly had a FWB situationship for years and are clearly in love but can't handle admitting it. SO. GOOD.

Chef's Choice by T.J. Alexander. A classic fake dating setup with a lot of cooking when a down on her luck woman agrees to pretend to date the French heir to a famous cooking family while he takes on a cooking... challenge...? To lock in his inheritance. A book with a trans hero and a trans heroine, rare (unfortunately) in romance.

Managed by Kristen Callihan. This is a great example of a rockstar romance, albeit one that focuses more on the manager of the band who's sooo uptight, and the social media girl/photographer he can't live without.

Lead by Kylie Scott. And if you want a rockstar romance that's about, well, the rockstar side... Here's a book about a recovering addict frontman whose world is turned upside down when his hard-ass assistant/sober living companion/unintentional best friend quits her job (because she just realized that somehow she's fallen in love with him).

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. A woman on the spectrum who's convinced that she's bad in bed (and wants to get married to please her family) hires a sex worker to get her out of her funk. Definitely recommend!

Historical

Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas. This is the prequel to Kleypas's Wallflowers series. By and large, I generally recommend trying to read older editions of Lisa's earlier books—she's been making a lot of edits since 2015ish that I don't... love.... I haven't heard of any edits being made to this one, though, and she's one of the greatest historical romance authors of all time. This is a dual romance, with a second chance/revenge interclass romance as the main story, with an age gap sort of redemption romance in the second story. Both are excellent.

Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt. Hoyt's entire Maiden Lane series is sooo good, but if you're going to read one book by her, go for the one with the virgin vigilante hero who finds love with a jaded society widow.

The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe. This is a standalone that's even better when you read the prior books in its series first. However, I think it's a great sendup of historical romance tropes—you get a rakish heroine, a hero who likes some rough sex (giving AND receiving bites and bruises) and a lot of HIGH OCTANE EMOTION with a feminist streak.

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall. A friends to lovers romance between a PTSD-ridden duke and a woman who, unbeknownst to him, is his best friend from before the war, who faked her death after the Battle of Waterloo in order to live as her true self. A rare historical romance with a trans heroine.

The Dragon and The Pearl by Jeannie Lin. A cat and mouse villain/kidnapping romance set in Tang Dynasty China. Super tense in the best possible way.

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera. A sapphic romance set in 1800s Paris, with one heroine being forced to show the other the secrets of the lesbian art community as a part of a business deal.

Princess by Gaelen Foley. To me, this is a great example of CAMPY 90s bodice ripper vibes in the best possible way. A bodyguard! A princess! An age gap! It can't be! She lactates when he sucks on her tits (she's a virgin).

The Mistress Experience by Scarlett Peckham. A sex work-positive romance with a shy hero and a bold heroine, a super modern and exciting look at historicals.

Devil's Bride by Stephanie Laurens. This is one I would definitely recommend to see a throwback—it's a great example of the campy historicals focused on one big family, with a solid dose of humor. And I mean... you kind of need to read a book with a hero named Devil.

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian. A super lovely friends to lovers romance with a nonbinary protagonist. It definitely broke new ground in historical romance.

Waking Up with the Duke by Lorraine Heath. Lorraine is one of the best historical romance writers in the game and is known for turning bonkers plots (in this case, local man agrees to impregnate his impotent best friend's wife) into suuuuuuper emotional love stories. A must-read.

Paranormal Romance

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh. A really interesting, influential shifter romance with a heroine who's literally incapable of feeling emotion... falling for a hero who's a literal panther shifter that feels ALL the emotion.

A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole. A CLASSIC paranormal romance and the first full-length installment of Immortals After Dark, the best PNR series I've ever read. Very classic hyper alpha werewolf book, with the "feminine but headstrong" heroine type Kresley's so good at. I would also make your way to Lothaire, which is later in the series but probably the BEST vampire romance novel I've ever read. A true example of a villain romance, which can be hard to find.

Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison. Another Big Alpha romance with mating bond stuff, this time featuring a dragon shifter who hunts the heroine down after she steals from him.

Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta. Not MY favorite book, but it's cute, and if you want an example of the modern "soft monster" romance, this... is it. (Run, Run Rabbit is my Nascosta of choice, but it's definitely a darker bite and feels a bit less "monster romance" to me as the leads are werewolves. To me, a monster should be less... humanoid.)

Bride by Ali Hazelwood. I really liked this, but I also think it's good to read to see the contrast between currently lite paranormals and paranormals from the height of the early 2000s wave. Plus, it's a tradpub book with knotting, which... shows how far we've come lmao

Moonglow by Kristen Callihan. Another KCallihan, but she writes across so many subgenres! This one I'm recommending to illustrate a particular niche we don't get enough of—historical paranormals. A werewolf/witch book set in Victorian London? And he's a Scottish rake? HELL YEAH.

A Long Time Dead by Samara Breger. A recent release that offers more gothic approach, with a romance between sapphic vampires spanning centuries. You can totally see an Interview with the Vampire call and response thing going on, but as a true romance novel with more explicit queerness (referring to the Interview book, not the show).

Erotic Romance

Priest by Sierra Simone. Good for dipping your toes into the Sierra Simone waters, a very classic "taboo" (but the taboo is religious, so it's light for a lot of people) romance between a Catholic priest and a woman seeking to unburden herself. With unique usages for holy oils. For Simone, I'll also recommend..............

The New Camelot Trilogy. This is for people who are ready to expand a bit and explore poly romance—I personally don't think anyone writes poly as well as Simone. An MMF triad retelling of the King Arthur myth, with the president, vice president, and first lady in a tangled, semi-dark-but-more-emotionally-speaking-not-violently-speaking triangle. Her writing is MAGNIFIQUE.

Praise by Sara Cate. Sara Cate is hit or miss for me, but this one is a great way to try her out while getting a good example of a "sex club" romance. The heroine ends up in a light D/s relationship with her ex-boyfriend's dad, with a good bit of praise involved. ;)

The Master by Kresley Cole. Another author who has to be featured multiple times due to her expansiveness. This one is a Russian mafia book that involves some truuuuuuly interesting... devices. But also, a lot of heart, as Kresley Cole is so good at making everything work. An interesting contrast to Lothaire, which I maintain is the paranormal version of this book in a lot of ways.

Mafia Mistress by Mila Finelli. A great example of an Italian mafia romance, with a massive age gap and some daddy stuff. I will also say—it does end on a cliffhanger and you need to read Mafia Darling to get the full story. Mafia Madman is actually my favorite in this series and is about a different couple, but they're ALL super good.

His Valet by S.M. LaViolette. A historical erotic romance with boss/employee stuff, secret identity stuff, a great grovel, and a nonbinary protagonist. Gorgeously written, daring, and a must.

Preferential Treatment by Heather Guerre. A billionaire romance that critiques the very concept of billionaires, and a great example of a soft femdom romance.

Act Your Age by Eve Dangerfield. An interesting and again self-analytical daddy age gap romance.

Fantasy Romance

A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane. An amazing barbarian-type romance with a big fantasy world and a ton of heat and swoony passion. A must!

The Witch Collector by Charissa Weaks. I just think this series is everything people tell you ACOTAR is, and I would absolutely recommend for multiple great romances (m/f and m/m), complex characters, and amazing dynamics throughout.

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco. This kicks off Maniscalco's Kingdom of the Wicked series, with witchcraft, demons, and more. This series began with a YA tone (the heroine was never underage, though) but in the second book Maniscalco transitioned to a fully adult sphere (and content...). You could also begin with the "adult from the start" spinoff Throne of the Fallen, it's up to you.

The Wisteria Society for Lady Scoundrels by India Holton. A whimsical and super romantic book kicking off a series with thieves, flying pirates, witches, and a ton of humor with a historical romance bent.

The Winter King by C.L. Wilson. Another high fantasy type romance with a conquering winter king marrying a summer princess in a true-making arrangement. Ice sculptures, war, and enemies to lovers goodness ensues.

Aaaand I don't read a lot of alien/sci-fi romance, but I'd definitely say that everyone should give Ruby Dixon's Ice Planet Barbarians series a try for the culture! Barbarian's Mate is my favorite, but Barbarian Alien might be a good place for newbies to start.