I used to read these books by the ton. That was back in the days when my kids were infants/toddlers and i didn't have the time or energy to devote to large drawn out novels. Silhoutte's and Harlequinns were a quick romance fix for me.I used to order them thru the mail and stacked the read ones in a pile to sell at rummage sales or give away. If you still read these, which ones were/are your favorites. Did you have certain authors you would look for?

I would say my all time favorite  was " Beyond all Reason" by Judith Duncan, back in 1992-93? LOVED that book!

Then they had a series written by all different authors , the name of the series was Crystal Creek. I wished i would have held onto that series.

Back in the day, Nora Roberts, Debbie Macomber and Curtiss Ann Matlock were the authors i would search for now they are all mainstream writers.

MacKenzie's Mountain by Linda Howard is in a keeper pile since 1989:lol:

The other ones in the running but not quite making #1 were:

Getting Rid of Bradley by Jennifer Crusie

Last Bridge Home by Iris Johansen

Dear John by Lyn Ellis (1994)

I have copies of all of these on my keeper shelf and re read them maybe once a year =)

gosh I have several that are faves but Linda Howard's Mackenzies series is my most-read. I also like a few older harlequins-beware of the stranger by janet dailey, hostage to dishonor, the man at la valaise, mason's ridge. also like merlene lovelace's codename: danger series (most of them) and lowell's warrior and outlaw.

My favorite series was 43 Light Street by Rebecca York. Oh wait--I also like that series by Justine Davis with a police department. I remember the one book in that series was Clay Yeager's Redemption which may be my all time favorite Harlequin type book.

I really like old Susan Napier Harlequin Presents. It seems like whenever I read a HP and think, "wow, that was really *different*" it turns out to be Napier.

I have Beyond All Reason and all the books Donna named on my keeper shelf and reread them still.  My MacKenzie's Mountain  has actually been on my keeper shelf since 1988 since I found an advance copy in a UBS that was turned in by a subscriber.  I still can't imagine how they gave it up.  I was in book ecstasy when I saw it. I still reread almost all of her series books.

I don't know how I could choose just one.  The others I still reread are a whole row of the Charlotte Lamb Presents, the early ones that mostly had one word titles, A Lost Love by Carole Mortimer, Serendipity by Judith McWilliams, The Wyomian by Betsy Page (Elizabeth August), Wanted: Christmas Mommy by Judy Christenberry, A Willing Surrender and Such Dark Magic by Robyn Donald, The Tiger's Cage and The Silver Veil by Margaret Way.  And I never liked the Penny Jordan books except for the three on my shelves which I lurv!! (go figure) Loving, The Hard Man, Time Fuse.  And Sandra Canfield's Night Into Day, Sandi Shane's(aka Sandra Canfield) Sweet Burning, and Karen Keast's (aka Sandra Canfield) Conquer The Night.  Lynne Graham's The Spanish Groom and Prisoner Of Passion. Gina Wilkins - A Perfect Stranger.  Alison Fraser - Coming Home and Time To Let Go and . . . 

I might be able to painfully come up with a top 20 series romances, but just one is beyond me.

I was working at a UBS when MacKenzie's Mountain first started turning up and let me tell you, you could tell it was different just by the huge stir and conversation it generated:lol:   The ladies were definitely intrigued by it:lol: 

Looks like I might need to go looking for some of these.  I don't always feel like sitting down to a full length novel and have forgotten how well these can be fit into a busy day:lol:

I liked the Silhouette Shadows line. Now they have Nocturne and I do try to read the ones I get hold of.

I loved a Harlequin I read by Judith McWilliams.  It must have been good since its the only book I ever read by her and I still remember it!

Anne

I was looking at the Charlotte Lamb HQ Presents on my shelves, over 30 of them that I could never part with.  She was very prolific and so many of them were keepers for me.  For the time and the format in which she was writing I thought she packed so much into it and she dealt with some pretty rough subjects sometimes.  Others were very much into the psychological aspects of love and her heroes were usually alpha but with human weaknesses.  And there was humor in most of her books.  I could do a top 10, well 11,  with her titles alone. 

1. Abduction  my all-time fave Lamb book, if I just had to choose one

2. Frustration  deals with H's jealousy over widow's much-loved dead husband

3. Dangerous  Humorous, British nurse tames cynical Greek tycoon

4. Ilusion  Another funny one

5. Desire  probably my second fave of all of them

6. Dark Master  alpha H sees her and makes sure he gets her

7. Dark Pursuit  unintentional bigamy

8. Forbidden Fruit  I usually hate "she's pregnant with his dead brother's baby" books but I loved this one

9. Secret Obsession She found out her great love was really her half-brother, it broke their hearts and now she's married and the new husband figures out the situation and is  jealous

    Sounds awful, was very good.

10. Angry Desire  She was sexually assaulted as a young girl, thinks she can get married, decides she can't , runs off night before the wedding.  Older H goes after her to get to bottom of problem.  I loved this one.

11. An Excellent Wife?   H is stuffed shirt Scrooge, Bah humbug on love type  h manages to get past staff  and she and the secretary and the receptionist fall into his office.  h holds onto his legs until he listens to what she has to say about the mother who abandoned him as a boy.   Funny, Sweet

 Oh, and does anyone remember Elizabeth Oldfield.  I loved Fighting Lady and Bodycheck.  I think I'll go reread them, LOL.

Secret Obesession was a bit much for me--I hate incest themes--but I love Lamb's Dark Fate. The heroine falls madly in love with the hero, but he refuses to recongize that they belong together. Normally a theme I would not care for at all, but the drama and heartache is awesome!

I love the older Presents by Jessica Steele and Charlotte Lamb and Carole Mortimer.

Also, my Loveswepts by Iris Johansen and Deborah Smith (Hold On Tight and it's sequel, Never Let Go--rare that you get 2 books with the same hero and heronie) and Kay Hooper (Hagen Strikes Again series), Fayrene Preston (Damaron mark series).  The entire Delaneys series by Kay Hooper, Iris Johansen and Fayrene Preston.

The Mackenzie's series by Linda Howard, Conard County books by Rachel Lee, anything Nora Roberts wrote for Silhouette Intimate Moments and Silhouette Special Edition (the Donovans, the O'Hurleys, and MacGregors).

I know I'm forgetting a bunch like the Family Found series by Gina Ferris Wilkins for Silhouette Special Edition and the Redstone Inc series by Justine Davis for Silhouette Intimate Moments/Romantic Suspense.

hey if we're doing loveswepts I have a lot of those LOL! kay hooper's, caught in the act -cant' remembe rthe author but good, victoria leigh's blackthorne's woman and night of the hawk, captain wonder..I stil have a stack of these to ge through!

My current category autobuy is Sarah Mayberry, who's mostly written Blazes until recently.  Her first Superromance releases in a couple months.

I also kept a bunch of titles by Nora Roberts (most of her MacGregors and Stanislaskis, for instance), Debbie Macomber (like her Midnight Sons)...  I kept Where the Heart Is, a Silhouette Special Edition by Gail Barrett; a few by Debra Salonen (mostly Superromances), Judy Christenberry's Randall series (Harlequin American Romance, I think), Sherryl Woods (And Baby Makes Three, mostly Special Edition), Lori Foster (Buckhorn brothers, etc.--Desire), Leslie Kelly's Santori family (Harlequin Tempation and Blaze), Carly Phillips, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Alison Kent, Rhonda Nelson, Maureen Child, Marilyn Pappano...

As you can tell, I have a hard time narrowing things down ;)

No doubt about it, my all time favorite is Mackenzie's Mountain by Linda Howard. It's been on my keeper shelf since it first came out.  My other long ago favorites (but no longer keepers) are the older Silhouette books by Kay Hooper, Fayrene Preston, and Iris Johansen.  They were good books, but I'm trying to keep my "keeper" shelf down to a minimum. I just don't have the room!

I am going to be the loner here maybe, but I liked Linda Howard's Duncan's Bride better than MacKenzie's Mountain. That and Jenny Crusie's Manhunting are my two fav's.

Wow, you ladies have mentioned some good stuff.I too have Mackenzie's Mountain on my keeper shelf and also read Duncans Bride. Both were great books.  Also I got some Ideas for other book that I'm going to look for now.  Thanks ladies,

Oh, good choice! I love Duncan's Bride, it's such a good book. I still have the original copy on my shelf with Mackenzie's Mountain, Game of Chance, and almost all of the other LH books.

there's a bunch listed in the 'series romance' thread..not sure what page it's on but it was bumped up by someone a week or so ago. some good recommendations. they put out tons of these and some are so good while others to me just weren't worth the time it took to read.

I, too, have a bunch of Linda Howard's on my keeper shelf, including the MacKenzie's and Duncan's Bride, Loving Evangeline, etc.

Elda Minger's Night Rhythms is a keeper for me.

All of Nora Robert's including Promise Me Tomorrow.  Mainly because my husband surprised me with the Brit version of it.

Jennifer Crusie's Charlie All Night, Anyone but You, The Cinderella Deal, Trust Me on This. 

I'm sure I have a few others but those are what come immediately to mind.

Here's a vote for Duncan's Bride, but my all-time faves:

Barely Mistaken by Jennifer LaBrecque (HQN Temptation 886) - WITTIEST DIALOG EVER!

Daring in the Dark by Jennifer LaBrecque (HQN Blaze 206) - I can hear the hero's British accent when I read and the heroine, a Southern Belle / Big Beautiful Woman is perfect for him!

Take Me by Cherry Adair (HQN Blaze 51) - Delicious plot and tear-jerker reveal

Truth or Dare by Jo Leigh (HQN Blaze 88) - Crippled heroine and Joe-athlete hero who learns to look beyond the physical

The Sweetest Taboo by Alison Kent (HQN Blaze 68) - MOST enigmatic, best-described hero - The ULTIMATE loner.

Lazarus Rising by Anne Stuart (HQN Amer Rom 374) - One of the books the author says she wishes would disappear forever, but I loved it! How often do you have the hero, a genuine bad guy, plot to kill the heroine?

and

An unnamed Silhouette Intimate Moments series, with heroes on both sides of the law, by Wendy Rosnau:

• A Younger Woman (SIM-1074)
• The Right Side of the Law (SIM-1110)
• Beneath the Silk (SIM-1157)
• One Way Out (SIM-1211)
• Last Man Standing (SIM-1227)

That's my short list of favorite category titles. I have more than 1,200 of them on my PBS bookshelf, including lots from the 80's and early 90's. Of course, all the books listed above are KEEPERS, but I'd be willing to negotiate multi-book/credit deals for the ones on my shelf.

Colleen

BTW, TANYA, here's a list of the 34 titles in the Crystal Creek series...

1. Deep in the Heart     Kaye, Barbara CC-1 Mar-93
2. Cowboys and Cabernet     Dalton, Margot CC-2 Apr-93
3. Amarillo by Morning     Campbell, Bethany CC-3 May-93
4. White Lightning Brondos, Sharon CC-4 Jun-93
5. Even the Nights Are Better     Dalton, Margot CC-5 Jul-93
6. After the Lights Go Out     Kaye, Barbara CC-6 Aug-93
7. Hearts Against the Wind     Clark, Kathy CC-7 Sep-93
8. The Thunder Rolls     Campbell, Bethany CC-8 Oct-93
9. Guitars, Cadillacs     West, Cara CC-9 Nov-93
10. Stand by Your Man     Clark, Kathy CC-10 Dec-93
11. New Way to Fly     Dalton, Margot CC-11 Jan-94
12. Everybody's Talkin'     Kaye, Barbara CC-12 Feb-94
13. Mustang Heart     Dalton, Margot CC-13 Mar-94
14. Passionate Kisses     Richards, Penny CC-14 Apr-94
15. Rhinestone Cowboy     Campbell, Bethany CC-15 May-94
16. Southern Nights     Dalton, Margot CC-16 Jun-94
17. Shameless     Steen, Sandy CC-17 Jul-94
18. Let's Turn Back the Years     Kaye, Barbara CC-18 Aug-94
19. Never Givin' Up on Love     Dalton, Margot CC-19 Sep-94
20. Gentle on My Mind     Campbell, Bethany CC-20 Oct-94
21. Unanswered Prayers     Richards, Penny CC-21 Nov-94
22. Somewhere Other Than the Night     Steen, Sandy CC-22 Dec-94
23. The Heart Won't Lie     Dalton, Margot CC-23 Jan-95
24. Lone Star State of Mind     Campbell, Bethany CC-24 Feb-95
25. In Plain Sight     Dalton, Margot HS-914 May-00
26. Consequences     Dalton, Margot HS-928 Jul-00
27. The Newcomer     Dalton, Margot HS-940 Sep-00
28. I'll Take Texas     Campbell, Bethany AN-561 Jul-02  (Return to Crystal Creek Anthology)
29. Made For Lovin' You     Thacker, Cathy Gillen AN-561 Jul-02  (Return to Crystal Creek Anthology)
30. She Used to Be Mine     Thompson, Vicki Lewis AN-561 Jul-02  (Return to Crystal Creek Anthology)
31. A Little Town in Texas     Campbell, Bethany HS-1129 May-03
32. Home to Texas     Campbell, Bethany HS-1181 Jan-04
33. Wild Horses     Campbell, Bethany HS-1261 Mar-05
34. Meet Me In Texas     Steen, Sandy HS-1271 Apr-05

 I wasn't familiar with this series, but just looking through the list cracked me up. I've never seen so many borrowed song titles in one place!

BTW, I found this complete series list on a WONDERFUL website: fictiondb.com

Happy hunting!

Colleen

Wow, thanks Colleen!

I have read #1 thru #24,  I think i tried reading number 27 when i discovered it was part of the same series(i  bought  it at a rummage sale) but at the time i just couldn't get into it since it had been so long since i read the orginal series i was getting overwhelmed trying to remember every single character from the previous series. I might have to give it a try again, i hope the later part of the series is as good as the begining.

Thanks, ladies, this has added a few to my never ending 'shopping' list.

My all-time favorite category is Daddy's Little Dividend by Elda Minger. 

Other's include: A Man Like Mac by Fay Robinson, most of Linda Howard's older categories (except Loving Evangiline - never liked that one), Catherine Mann's Wingman Warriers series, and Night Into Day by Sandra Canfield.

Lazarus Rising by Anne Stuart (HQN Amer Rom 374) - One of the books the author says she wishes would disappear forever, but I loved it! How often do you have the hero, a genuine bad guy, plot to kill the heroine?

If it's Anne Stuart, pretty darned often! ;-) 

I just picked up a copy of Loving Evangeline.  A lot of people seem to really hate it, so it's just about guarenteed to be an interesting read. ;-)