QUESTION: What romance theme do you not find often enough or would like to see more of?

Vince have you read Lee MacKenzie's WITH THIS RING? I found it very similar in tone to the Romance line and it was a great take on the Runaway Bride theme. 

Donna

Theme that I LOVE and want to see more of...  HUMOUR.  I love wit, sarcasm, biting humour, fiesty back and forth dialogue, arguments between the H/h that border on ridiculousness/hilarity. 

I love it when I spew water while reading.  Even onto my keyboard in the case of ebooks.  I love choking on gum and tic tacs.  And I love smothering fits of giggles with my pillow during midnight reading. 

*happy memories of reading*  GOOD TIMES! 

Well written humor injected into a book is wonderful, but it is also something that can be so subjective. Sometimes I find myself going in streaks with what I favor. So, I'm not sure...

Janet, when I want a good laugh, I grab my buddy's books - that would be my buddy Trish Wylie.  She writes deeply emotional books, but she has this sense of wit and sarcasm that I LOVE.  And she talks just like her books...and with an extra sparkle in her eye.

Tee hee.  I read mainly Presents, and I've enjoyed "At The Billionaire's Bidding" (I think that's the title) and I really need to buy "Her Bedroom Surrender" (I saw this one at the store and was so tempted, but broke... I laughed out loud in the store as I flipped through it.  Yum.)

Those are the only books I've read by her, I guess I should explore and see the Romance line books she's done.  *grin*

Would it be rude to pass on that she should write more, and write magically faster?  *evil grin*  I read so darn fast...  I read easily 50 books a month, 100 if I'm doing non stop reading almost.  There aren't enough humourous romances out there it seems! 

If you like 'em less explicit, she writes for Romance, and for the hotter variety, for Presents/Presents Extra.

*snort*  If I like them less explicit?  I like 'em smutty!  Bring on the smut.  I regularly read Presents, Blaze, Desire.  BUT for a good author and the promise of humour I'm willing to jump over to a different line.  (I don't know if I can stay reading the Romance line for long though, I start missing the steam and passion!) 

Nancy, I get what you mean.  I don't like my romances to become slapstick humour or bathroom humour or reach hugely comic proportions.  The comedy can't overshadow the romance and passion!  But I love little touches of humour here and there.  And you know, every once in a while I don't MIND if the humour slightly overshadows the romance, sometimes I just really really need to laugh about love!  (Comic romance is better than a tragic romance.  I hate to cry, but I love to laugh)

Vince...  thanks for the recommendation.  I looked her up at the library, but the few books by her aren't part of that series, too bad!  I'd have liked to check one out, see if I liked it.  Are they still backlisted here at eHarlequin?

Nancy...  Here's two books I read that were complete emotional roller coasters for me, made me cry, but were SATISFYING.  They were really loving, even during separation and hard times.  These books were keepers for the emotional ride they were!

2362
The Salvatore Marriage
Michelle Reid
Harlequin Presents
This book was really gripping and emotional.  The grief, passion, and tenderness just had me jumping!  They were together two years ago, engaged, until he found her cleaning up after another MAN in their apartment.  She tried to tell him it was her sister (who married the hero's brother) but he wouldn't believe her.  They had angry sex and he broke her heart with his cold refusal to speak to her after.  They come back together when their married siblings have a fatal car accident, the hero breaks the news, and they have to deal with the hospitals and their newborn baby niece.  Despite the past, he wants a life with her.  Their coming together is really emotional.  Over the past two years, neither has been able to bring themselves to having sex with other people, so their feelings for each other are all the more special on both sides.  I really enjoyed this book.  I have never had a book with death/grief in my keeper pile, but this is a keeper for me because the passion and tenderness were so amazing.  Rating: 5/5 stars, the best book I've read from Michelle Reid so far.
* The hero/heroine stay faithful and have a tender love even though they broke up under bad circumstances

2590
Pregnancy of Passion
Lucy Monroe
Harlequin Presents
Back Cover:  It was a year since their tempestuous affair had ended. So why was he back? Elisa trusted Salvatore di Vitale as far as she could throw him. And, as the wealthy Sicilian was over six feet tall, that wasn't very far.
Salvatore told Elisa he had come to protect her. And if their close proximity led to passion...and if passion should lead to pregnancy...all the better! Because then Elisa would have to marry him, which was Salvatore's plan all along.
  My Review:  I loved Pregnancy of Passion.  The hero and heroine were lovers who broke up a year ago because of a miscarriage (and him stupidly thinking he wasn't the father).  The hero said that from the moment she told him about the baby, he considered them married in his eyes, and he acted accordingly.  He chased her, he watched over her, he felt she was his, he was faithful, he valued her as his and put her safety above everything else.  *sigh*  That was a strong warm love that just made me feel real good.  He'd watched over her since she walked out, from afar, but stepped in to shadow her when her safety was threatened at the jewelry store she worked at.  He was constantly at her side, determined to get her to the altar, and he told her very clearly that he deliberately intended not to use protection when they had sex because he WANTED her pregnant (for her own good and because he wanted their family).  I liked that he knew what he wanted so well: HER, and that he had made up his mind 100% and was 110% committed to getting it.  Rating: 4.5/5 stars, a very emotional story about loss with a very determined hero in pursuit of his woman, who he intends to wrangle to the altar.  Very loving.  I'm going to label this a KEEPER.
* very loving, a faithful hero, who was 110% committed to his woman

2723
The Markonos Bride
Michelle Reid
Harlequin Presents
Back Cover: The island of Aristos holds bittersweet memories for Louisa. Here she met and married gorgeous Greek playboy Andreas Markonos and bore him a precious son. But when tragedy struck, Louisa fled….

Now, years later, Andreas can't believe that his runaway wife has dared set foot on Aristos again—and that he still desires her. Andreas will reclaim his wife with the one thing they still have in common…intense physical passion!    My Review: Five years ago their young son died (he suffered a fall).  It tore them apart, and their families kept them apart.  Now, as every year, the heroine makes a trip to the island where her son lived and died to visit his grave.  She meets her estranged husband again, and grief and anger at each other draws them together, passion explodes between them.  They have tempted fate: will she be pregnant again?  He wants her to be, quite badly, and takes her away to seduce her into having as much unprotected sex as he can manage.  He wants to tie his wife to him, and make up for the five years they were forced apart for.  This is a great story, it set my heart pounding the entire time, I loved the characters and I rooted for them to work things out.  The reasons they were forced apart by their families were senseless and I didn't see why the parents (especially his) thought they were so wrong for each other, they could have had such a happy marriage, there was no reason for the parents to object.  I really enjoyed that this book had fidelity: despite being parted five years, neither could bring themself to having sex with other people, committing adultery, neither wanted to cut the ties they had to their love.  It was really heart-warming that they shared something so special.  Rating: 4.5/5 stars, a really great passion and the couple were made only for each other.

I've suggested this book  before .. if you liked the movie War of the Roses, then you'll love Adrianne Byrd's When Valentines Collide .... this is a 5 star read all the way ... it's hilarious in places where you'll spew your cola, and deeply emotional in others ... an all around great read

I'm always so glad to be on eharlequin, because so few people I know here in my neck of the woods actually love to read and write as I do.  I feel like the oddball amongst most of my friends and family.  I'm glad for my Harl buddies.  I can't tell you how many books I've bought now for my TBR pile because of the recommendations I've caught here.  I've read Liz Fielding, Beth Ciotta, Melanie Milbourne, and getting ready to read Michelle Styles and Donna Alward because of meeting them here and hearing about their great books. 

I have to agree with most of you, I LOVE humor and fun in a book.  However, there are times I like to be made to cry, too - and, unfortunately, real tear-jerking books are hard to find, at least for me (I must have a heart as tough as leather - LOL).  But then as Nancy (Sheandean) said on one of her blogs, it depends on my current state of mind how I interpret the book, so maybe I'm not reading the tear-jerkers at a time when they'll jerk my tears!    Truth is, I'm much more apt to laugh at life than cry.

I just finished reading The Soldier's Homecoming a few hours ago.  I must say, I bawled.  I rate great books by two traits...can they make me laugh out loud or cry real tears.  Guess you know where your newest falls!!!

Michelle, I love mistaken identity themes, too (those can often be funny)!  Beauty and the Beast?  I'm not sure if I've read any with that theme - what are some good titles?  Oh, and I really like stories with a touch of intrigue weaved in - something that I can't figure out until near the end.  It's fun when they contain a secret or something tucked under the surface to come out and GRAB me! But my tastes are highly variable, and like I've always said, I read smorgasbord style.

Janet, when I said earlier that I like 'tear-jerkers', I certainly didn't mean because of infidelity/betrayal.  Those are kind of yucky IMHO, too.

By the way, I'm waiting for Donna's The Soldier's Homecoming, and for Michelle's Taken By The Viking to arrive on my doorstep any time now (hopefully today).  I've been hearing great reviews about both books.  Mr. Postman needs to hurry!

Janet85 thanks for the link to your blog of keepers--very cool. This eharl website is such a good resource of new types of reads.

And, I love humor in books, but the books that can make me cry and laugh in the same read are treasures (and often added to my keeper pile).