As I’ve been working on the list for the upcoming AAR top 100 romances poll, I’ve noticed a dearth of romantic suspense novels, especially those written in the past five years (since we last did the poll.) We’ve reviewed 19 RS books this year–12 were DIKS. I’ve only read one of those: the very enjoyable Night Will Find You by Julia Heaberlin and that is just barely a romantic suspense–it’s more a suspense novel with a possible romance in it.
I’d like to read more romantic suspense in part because I adore mystery/suspense novels. So, what have you got for me? What romantic suspense novels do you love? Bonus points if they’ve been penned in the past five years!
This decidedly does not meet your within-five-years criteria, but I recently reread Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart and was delighted anew by its cleverness, charm, sensitivity and steadily rising tension. Such a gorgeous book, of the he’ll-either-marry-me-or-kill-me variety of romantic suspense, but with a lot more going on than many.
That book was the first that popped into my mind. I tend to avoid RS these days because so many of them depend on serial killers or really nasty villains.
Implausibly plentiful and prolific serial killers: I cannot suspend disbelief
Are you just talking about m/f romantic suspense? Because there have been umpteen listings of really strong m/m romantic suspense books on here, pretty much all of them written in the last five years……..
Hah – you beat me to it!
I’m talking about any kind of romantic suspense. That said, it does feel like a lot of the RS we’ve liked in the past few years has been m/m. And Caz has a theory!
I do!! But given the number of books in the list I made – and that we’ve reviewed – that are m/m RS, I think it’s more than a theory 🙂
The sexual orientation of the leads doesn’t really matter – the point is that RS that spans several books and features the same couple has more time to develop the relationship than is afforded in a single title, which I think is an indisputable fact, whether m/m or m/f. It just so happens that there are (or seem to be) many more m/m authors who write them than there are m/f authors who do. Other than J.D Robb’s In Death series, I’m really hard pressed to come up with m/f RS series that features the same central couple other than various historical mystery series (Lady Julia, Lady Darby etc.) – and in those cases, I pretty much stopped reading them once the romance started to take a back seat. (And given that In Death is now 50+ books, I don’t know how much actual romance they contain.) ETA: Loreth Anne White’s Angie Pallorino trilogy is a same-couple m/f series, but LAW has now switched to writing mystery/suspense without the romance 🙁
So my theory isn’t about m/m vs. m/f – it’s simply the difference between a series and a single title, and there happen to be more of the former in m/m – some of which I’d rate as being among the best books of the past five years. Rachel Grant tried a two-book series with Fiona Carver, which wasn’t bad, but wasn’t of the same quality as Poe, Ashe, James etc. and the romance was under-done.
I made a list a few months ago on another post – I kept it, so I’ll repost here – the majority of these were published in the last five years.
Nicky James Valor & Doyle series – all DIKs, as is Everything I Didn’t Know – she also has a few standalone titles that are solid B grades, including Radio Static and Not What It Seems
CS Poe – Momento Mori & Snow & Winter
Gregory Ashe – pretty much everything!
To Love and Protect by Roman Alexander is a really good standalone.
LJ Hayward’s Death and the Devil series is absolutely brilliant – spy meets assassin in the Australian Outback (to start with) – really inventive storytelling and fantastic romance.
Cole McCade’s Criminal Intentions series is fantastic – but it’s long; there are 3 seasons with 13 books per season – 1&2 are complete, 3 is due to be finished later this year (or early next) but each season works on its own.
KJ Charles Will Darling Adventures
Allie Therin’s Magic in Manhattan and Roaring Twenties Magic series are paranormal romantic suspense. Her recent Liar City was terrific, but it’s book 1 in the series, so no romance yet.
A.J. Demas’ Sword Dance trilogy is romantic suspense if you squint! Mysteries with romance set in an alt-ancient Greece/Rome.
Cordelia Kingsbridge – Seven of Spades series.
Layla Reyne has several RS series – she’s a bit hit and miss for me, but Irish & Whiskey and her most recent Perfect Play series mostly worked for me.
Tal Bauer’s Cole & Noah duet – The Murder Between Us and The Grave Between Us.
Charlie Adhara’s Big Bad Wolf is excellent, and her latest – Pack of Lies – is a fantastic series opener, although the next book has, sadly, been delayed.
These are almost all series though, which allows for a LOT more character and relationship development than single titles for obvious reasons. It seems most m/f RS these days is single title and it’s generally the romance that suffers due to the page count. Rachel Grant and Toni Anderson are about the only m/f RS authors who seem able to give both romance and plot equal space. I gave Anderson’s Cold Cruel Kiss an A- in 2021 and Grant’s Firestorm an A in 2018. But those are 2 books set against the several dozen m/m titles I’ve listed above.
Also – I did add a few books to the Top 100 nomination list, although I don’t think any of them work without reference to the previous books in their respective series – simply to get some more recent RS on there.
We have a couple of DIKs for books by Rebecca Zanetti here, but I’ve never rated her stuff above a B, so she isn’t on my list.
Rachel Grant and Toni Anderson are both solid authors when it comes to m/f RS, though it’s rare for one of their books to really wow me. Grant started a new series last year – Evidence Under Fire, which is tied to her earlier Flashpoint and Evidence series but should work on its own.
Yes, I’ve read both of the Grant books (and I’m doing Anderson’s current series in audio) – not quite as good as the Flashpoint series (and the first one contained one really problematic element) – they’re pretty good, but not quite good enough for me to want to nominate them for the Top 100; my rule is that books need to be DIKs for that. But there’s nothing to stop others nominating them!
Grant is hit or miss with me. I enjoyed her Flashpoint series but was underwhelmed by her Dangerous Ground books. I read Toni Anderson’s first book and found some of it objectionable (I gave it a D), so I didn’t go on, but maybe I could jump into her books further the line?
You could certainly pick up other Toni Anderson books without too much trouble – she’s got two spin off series from her original Cold Justice one – I’ve reviewed some of the in audio both here and at AG.
Flashpoint is superb, and if you know of any other action romances of that quality I would love to hear of them. Freya Lange is the fourth member of my Pantheon of Heroines.
I honestly haven’t read any m/f RS since the Flashpoint series that is anywhere near as good. There’s loads of fantastic m/m (see my list) that achieves the right balance between plot and romance but I haven’t found it in any m/f RS. I do read it, still – Grant, Anderson, Griffin, Burton, Leigh, Zanetti – are authors whose RS I continue to read and listen to, but in many cases, the romances are shoved into the back seat while the plot drives.
Unfortunately MM doesn’t function as a romance for me, to my ex’s despair after I read the first book of her favourite series with her, the Cooper and Park one, but stopped there (maybe that is why she broke up with me 😉 ).
Flashpoint really is exceptional, even Grant herself hasn’t been able to get close to matching it so it isn’t a huge surprise that no-one else has. SIGH
Mihalik’s Consortium Rebellion and Ilona Andrews’ The Edge series will have to remain the closest I have found (from other subgenres).
Cooper & Park – Big Bad Wolf by Charlie Adhara. That’s such a great series that just gets better and better as it goes on – it’s a shame you weren’t able to get on with it 🙁
My husband and I have both been rereading the Big Bad Wolf series this summer/fall. They are so good, and as you say, they get better and better as they go along.
I really like Laura Griffin’s books – her latest is the Texas Murder Files series. However I would describe them more as murder mysteries with a romance -not so much suspense.
I found these through a mystery book club. They are m/f BTW.
I’ve read some of those, too (and others by Laura Griffin) – I definitely agree that they’re mysteries, but there’s not a great deal of romance in them from what I remember. I’ve enjoyed books by Mary Burton and Melinda Leigh as well – but in both cases (and even though Leigh DOES write same-couple series) the romances are usually secondary and, in some cases, non existent.
Loreth Anne White is another favourite – her Angie Pallorino series is excellent, but again, it’s a 3 book, same-couple series, and thus not eligible for the Top 100 vote. She’s recently switched to writing mysteries rather than romantic suspense.
I think the final book in a series is eligible.
Even if it doesn’t make sense on its own?
Well, I guess it’s a judgement call. The Angie Pallorino series would work. If a book ends in an HEA and one can follow the story, why not?
But if you only read book 3 you’d have missed out on the development of the romance and wouldn’t have a full understanding of who Angie is and why she thinks and behaves as she does. It doesn’t work as a standalone IMO.
I disagree! In that case, I think the last book, while improved if you read all three, still is a reasonable choice for our list.
Sandra Brown wrote some very good RS book, but her recent onces havent’ done it for me. Her most recent Out of Nowhere was a big disappointment. Even in her earlier books the romance is usually not as strong as the suspense plot, but many are still satisfaying.
I read a lot of the same books as Caz, so I won’t repeat any of her choices. Like she says below, more MM writers are writing RS series featuring the same couple and the relationship development is so much better than most standalones.
I love romantic suspense and romantic mysteries, and I wish more writers (of m/f and m/m) would write them. Most of my top 10 books from 2023 will be RS, but they’re part of one series or another and ineligable for any of the AAR Top 100 polls.
I have four RS titles with 5 stars – my personal ranking of “A” or DIK titles
Dal Maclean’s Bitter Legacy
Suzanne Brockmann’s Force of Nature
Josh Lanyon’s Fair Game
Josh Lanyon’s Dark Tide
Both Dark Tide and Force of Nature are part of a series of books and appear either in the middle or at the end of the series. The other two are first books in a series.
Highly ranked (4.5 stars) RS for me:
Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer’s Agnes and the Hitman (the only truly standalone RS in my highest ranked RS reads)
Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer’s Lavender’s Blue (first in a series)
(Several other Josh Lanyon titles plus many of the authors/series in Caz’s list below are also 4.5 reads for me.)
Some 4-star reads (for me) that haven’t been mentioned so far are:
Kelly Armstrong’s City of the Lost
Lois McMaster Bujold Cordelia’s Honor (which includes both Shards of Honor and Barrayar)
Stephanie Gayle’s Idyll Threats
ZA Maxfield’s The Long Way Home (the only other standalone in this list)
JD Robb’s Naked in Death
Brockmann, Bujold, Crusie, Robb and Armstrong are m/f romances. All the others are m/m.
The Dal Maclean series is one of the very best of recent years. I think maybe Bitter Legacy should go on the Top 100 noms list as it works as a standalone although it’s even better as part of the trilogy. Adrien English is the grandaddy of them all when it comes to m/m RS – and is, for my money, still Lanyon’s best work.
Bitter Legacy is so brilliant, as are Dal Maclean’s other two books and her short story (novella?) A Country For Old Men. I hope she publishes more soon, she’s such a fantastic writer. My personal favourite Lanyon is Stranger on the Shore, which reminds me of old school romantic suspense, it has a very retro vibe, but with on-page sex.
FWIW That Dal Maclean novella is part of an anthology called Footsteps in the Dark and it contains short stories/novellas. I can vouch for the work of all of the authors except Meg Perry and CSWynne, but I’m guessing they’re pretty decent writers given the company they are with in this volume.
Footsteps in the Dark: An M/M Mystery Romance Anthology – Kindle edition by Lanyon, Josh, Maclean, Dal, Wynne, S.C., Kimberling, Nicole, Poe, C.S., Gregg, LB, Maxfield, Z.A., Perry, Meg. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
I think a lot of those have since been republished individually.
You are probably right Caz, except for the Dal Maclean – at least at Amazon. The only way to purchase/read her story is this anthology. As mentioned, I adore 6 of the 8 authors; and just finished the Meg Perry for the first time. It was quite nice. So $8 (here in the US) for 8 RS novellas by some really fine authors . . .
The audiobook version of the anthology is still available, though.
The audiobook has great narrators, too, Kale Williams and Joel Leslie.
The audiobook is how I discovered it. The copy I have (from Audible) doesn’t have text chapter names, however – extremely irritating in a book of novellas / short stories, as there’s no way of browsing effectively. But the content is good.
It’s been a while since I read it, but I liked “Sacred Sins” by Nora Roberts. I read it when it first came out. And it got a great review here.
I can talk more about names and series than individual titles, because I find it difficult to choose one.
Sandra Brown is my favourite romance writer, and I also love Suzanne Brockmann‘s books.
More recent authors in this genre that I’ve loved are Rachel Grant, specially her Flashpoint series, Toni Anderson, Tal Bauer, Louise Dawn or Carolyn Crane (I loved The Associates series, it’s a pity she does not write this kind of book anymore).
In the short format I also enjoyed the Linear Tactical series by Janie Crouch or H.E.R.O. Force by Amy Gamet.
My most recent 5-star in this genre was Whisper (2018) by Tal Bauer, a thriller that was bigger than life because of its amazing scope.
She is also just a lovely person!
There have been a few reasons for me to quit reading these novels. One is that some of my favorites have quit – Jamie Alden, Brenda Novak, Loreth Ann White – all have moved on from the genre. Another reason is that a lot seems to be done in series. Karen Rose, Melinda Leigh, Kendra Elliott, Kate Watterson, and Mary Burton – have all moved in that direction, writing five, six, and seven (and beyond!) novels all taking place in the same world, many following the same couple. I quit the Eve Dalla books because that a) grows tedious, b)requires me to devote memory space to something that I would rather not give it to, and c) requires the couples to deal with lots of drama to keep things fresh and moving forward, and that’s just not my jam. Even when the books are just interrelated, I grow frustrated when I’m expected to remember everybody from some thousand pages written over several years. It’s hard to find standalone or trilogies, so I hardly even look now.
I have a limit for series. Books that go past about five, maybe six, are enough for me.
I can do trilogies and I do read a few detective novels where the focus is on the crime rather than the lives of the characters. But I have serious series burnout and my limit tends to break at five or six too. I really prefer three.
I agree that most series fizzle. There are very few I’ve managed to hang in with for more than 6 or 7 because I’m more about the relationships than the mysteries or action: Brockmann’s Troubleshooters, Robb’s In Death and Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum are three that come to mind. And Brockmann’s Troubleshooters is the only one I eagerly read in its entirety (maybe 26 in total?). I gave up on the Plum when it became obvious (at book 15 or 16?) that Stephanie was never actually going to choose one guy. I lasted a little longer with the Robb, but eventually gave up on those as well when it became more about other characters relationships and less about Eve and Roark.
Books like the Brockmann’s work for me a bit better because they aren’t just about one couple/person. They were interrelated, but you were still receiving a fresh romance and an intriguing new plot with each new novel. At first, anyway. By the last few novels, I think she was just banging out whatever she felt like, and the books didn’t appeal as much anymore. I was also ticked that a book I would eagerly anticipate would turn out to be about a totally different matchup than what I had been led to expect. I finished them all but by the end my expectations had lowered quite a bit.
I just discovered C.J. Archer’s Glass and Steele series. (Her books have not been reviewed here.) This one is romance/mystery/magic and runs to thirteen books. Up to to book#7, there is a nice balance between mystery and romance but once romantic issues are resolved, rest of the series started feeling very flat. I stopped after #7. I really think the author should have stopped at #7.
I rarely read a fantasy series anymore that isn’t complete and isn’t less than ten books. My preferred range is six/seven books. You are right, after that the romance is either flat or filler, and the books themselves can become quite tedious.
Or authors just lose the thread. (I’m looking at you, Sherry Thomas!)
Yes – exactly! The series on my list generally run to 5-6 books max. (The exception is Hazard and Somerset at 16 plus various short stories and novellas – so far – there’s a new H&S book coming out on Feb 2024 – but there’s no danger of Greg Ashe losing any threads!)
See my note above that for me it is about the relationship rather than the mysteries. Thomas’ Holmes series relationship was so lovely in the first couple of books but it just stopped evolving by about book 4. (sigh)
Agreed. And it’s why I’ve stopped reading so many historical mystery series – the couples got together in book 3 or 4, and the series became more about the mysteries than the relationship.
This is very much true of C.S. Harris’s Sebastian St.Cyr series also. Mystery is still occasionally intriguing but romance is totally dead.
Yes – that’s the only historical mystery series I continue to read. The mysteries are generally good and the romance was only ever a small sub-plot so it wasn’t such a loss when it disappeared. I will admit, however, that now the big draw that was Sebastian’s search for the truth about his origins has gone, they’ve become more like standalones because the backstory is no longer so key.
Second many of the previous mentions (J.D. Robb, Charlie Adhara, Josh Lanyon)…in particular:
Rachel Grant: Flashpoint series. My fav is Inferno (Flashpoint #3.5)
Romeo Alexander: To Love and Protect – M/M
Linda Howard: Open Season and Now You See Her are my favourites. The CIA Spies series is good…rec for top series poll.
Elizabeth Lowell: Tell Me No Lies
Pamela Clare: Naked Edge (I-Team #4)
Maggie Shayne: Sleep With the Lights On (Brown and De Luca #1)
Adriana Anders: Uncharted (Survival Instincts #2)
Anne Calhoun: Uncommon Passion
M.L. Buchman: The Night Is Mine (The Night Stalkers #1)
Maya Banks: Whispers in the Dark (KGI #4)
I have enjoyed Sherry Thomas’ Lady Sherlock series…light on romance, more classic mysteries. But excellently written, nonetheless.
I feel like the more recent ones have sort of lost the thread which bums me out because I think Thomas is an amazing writer.
Sex is off-screen but the Louisa Luna “Alice Vega” books are good. The Five Decembers is really lovely. It has a romance but the mystery is what makes it. Really epic book.
I’ll preface by saying I’m not interested in serial killer books or psychological thrillers so I avoid those.
I really enjoyed Megan Crane’s Alaska Force series, Adriana Anders’s Survival Instincts series (Whiteout was great and made my top ten list in 2020), Cold and Deadly by Toni Anderson, Murder Takes the High Road by Josh Lanyon, the Desert Dogs series by Cara McKenna, the Tough Love series by HelenKay Dimon, the Nine Circles series by Jackie Ashenden, and the classic Midnight and later Men of Midnight series by Lisa Marie Rice.
Second the Men of Midnight series by LMR. Dangerous Lover (Dangerous #1) is my favorite LMR read though.
Old LMR is such fun.