I indulge in love stories, however, I get annoyed by couples getting married after knowing each other for two weeks, or falling into bed after meeting strangers in the dark, or being just unbelievable gullible ... you get my drift?

On the other hand: even though I do not mind to learn about different cultures, lifestyles, history, technic, .... I dont't want to be lectured for 50% of the book.

And last, but not least - wasting five pages to describe how the protagonists get the deed done - not my thing, I am looking for action ;-)

For example: the newer Sandra Brown novels are pretty good - the older ones (before 1990 or so) are a no-go for me.

I love the Stephanie Plum novels from Janet Evanovich, her stand-alone romance novels - also a no-go.

I don't mean to offend any hardscore Harlequin-fans, just looking for something different :)

Hoping for recommendations for intelligent yet fast paced love stories.

Thanks!

Mary Margaret Daughtridge writes a SEAL series that really more fiction with romance in there. Complex characters, well written books.

I really liked the Virgin River series by Robyn Carr.  Nice stories along with romance but not graphic romance. Janet Chapman also has a nice series about Highlanders.  Good romance stories without getting too descriptive. Looking foward to seeing what others suggest.

Cindy Miles (who I wish would write more books) has several that I really enjoyed. They are nice and light reads, and also fairly clean, romances that take a good part of the book to develop. On the funny side too.

Spirited Away , MacGowans Ghost, Into thin Air

One author I really like for action and romance is Traci Hunter Abramson. As long as you don't mind all of the characters being Mormon, they're great reads.

As long as you don't mind historical romance, it's hard to go wrong with Georgette Heyer; she has a few duds, but most are witty, exciting, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Thanks a lot for the recommandations, I already went after a couple of them. Sure enjoy looking at the authors and books you are suggesting - please keep them coming! :-)

I'm on the fence with most romance... but I enjoyed CL Wilson's Tairen Soul series

Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I thought I'd suggest Pamela Clare's I-Team romantic suspense series.  She has real life experience in journalism, so she is able to infuse a lot of reality into her series, and really get to the heart & all sides of a matter.  Hot romance, but not erotic.  I always give her high ratings!

I am not a "romance" fan,because I get bored with them.   But this book had action, etc.   I definitely was not bored, and loved the book.  The reviews and star ratings are good.

On the Island
Author: Tracey Garvis Graves

Two people stranded on an island struggle to survive -- and slowly fall in love -- in the runaway New York Times bestseller. — Anna Emerson is a thirty-year-old English teacher desperately in need of adventure. Worn down by the cold Chicago winters and a relationship that's going nowhere, she jumps at the chance to spend the summer on a tropical island tutoring sixteen-year-old T.J.

T.J. Callahan has no desire to go anywhere. His cancer is in remission and he wants to get back to his normal life. But his parents are insisting he spend the summer in the Maldives catching up on all the school he missed last year. Anna and T.J. board a private plane headed to the Callahan's summer home, and as they fly over the Maldives' twelve hundred islands, the unthinkable happens. Their plane crashes in shark-infested waters. They make it to shore, but soon discover that they're stranded on an uninhabited island. At first, their only thought is survival. But as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return.