What was your first ‘dirty’ book? Mine was likely Kathleen Winsor‘s Forever Amber, which I read when I was way too young to have done so. That combination of history–the rich Restoration period–and a wayward woman in the person of Amber St. Clare proved an irresistible combination for me.

In honor of Ms. Winsor’s birthday, today, several bloggers–especially Jessica from Racy Romance Reviews–and Twitter friends decided to celebrate by posting their 16 favorite romances of all time–or for right now, if the perpetuity thing is too daunting.

I thought it sounded fun, and one of my all-time favorite never-met-her-in-person-but-love-her-online people, Maili, thought of it, so I had to do it. So here goes; please submit yours in comments!


Amanda Quick, Deception

Anne Stuart, Black Ice

Anne Stuart, To Love A Dark Lord


Carla Kelly, Reforming Lord Ragsdale

Carolyn Jewel, My Wicked Enemy

Connie Brockway, As You Desire

Edith Layton, The Devil’s Bargain

J.R. Ward, Lover Eternal

Liz Carlyle, The Devil You Know

Loretta Chase, Lord of Scoundrels

Loretta Chase, Mr. Impossible

Mary Balogh, The Notorious Rake

Mary Balogh, The Temporary Wife


Meljean Brook, Demon Angel

Robin Schone, The Lady’s Tutor

Stephenie Meyer, Twilight


Of course, having written these 16 down, there are literally hundreds more I could say are my favorites (I read a lot. Explains my lack of productivity in the writing way sometimes. Ahem). Are any of these your favorites also? Did you hate any of these? Let’s talk about books!

Megan