Happy New Year!

[vamp_ress]

Just checking in here to join in all the well-wishing for 2024. Here's to hoping that it will be a good one ...

Also, I just finished listening to Hester Fox's "The Widow of Pale Harbor". Now, I don't know what the official genre for this is, but I would called it gothic romance. This is leaning very heavily on the the romance-side of things with

Comments

[ellynn_ithilwen]

happy 2024! :D

[vamp_ress]

;-)

[cairistiona7]

Happy (belated) New Year to you, as well.

I don't read much romance but I remember when I was in middle school absolutely devouring Victoria Holt's books. They always seemed to have a good mystery plot. I haven't read that kind of book in decades, though, so I have no idea how it stands up to however gothic romance is defined these days.

[vamp_ress]

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll have a look whether my library has books by her to sample. The thing is: I don't read romance (in books). I read romance in fanfiction, actually the what's I read most when I read fanfiction. But I HATE it as a genre in books. I tried Emily Henry this year, because everyone is raving about her. Her couple/not couple/couple annoyed the hell out of me. Gnnnghn.

So I tend to try romance and then I hate it ...

[cairistiona7]

IIRC, the thing I liked about the Holt novels was that romance wasn't the sole plot. There were always mysteries and sometimes spooky stuff and quite a bit of who-dunnit-ness about them. The romance angle was more of a major sub-plot than the main driver of the story.

Now I'm kinda wanting to reread some. LOL

[vamp_ress]

Yes, that! That's why I generally don't read romance. If it's the sole purpose of the plot without "anything else" going on, I get bored pretty easily.