Five Books Everyone Should Read is a feature we’re running in 2015. We’ve asked some of our favorite authors, readers and bloggers to share five books that touched them or have stayed with them throughout the years.
Rowena: Today, Elle Kennedy, author of one of my favorite reads of the year The Deal, shares the five books she thinks everyone should read. I really love the books that I’ve read on Elle’s list so I’m pretty stoked to add the other books I haven’t read to my TBR list.
Let’s check out her five, shall we?
Elle Kennedy: Um. Only FIVE?? This is a Sophie’s Choice of massive proportions. Ha, and I just snuck in a sixth read in this intro, because, guys, you should read Sophie’s Choice. And once you read that, you should check out these five:
The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord…1743.
Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
If you haven’t already read this one, you are missing out! I know, I know, it’s constantly being hyped up and people are always gushing about it, so you’ve probably already gotten this recommendation a million times before. Now you’re getting it a million and one times. I adore this book (and the entire series). I honestly believe that Jamie Frasier is the perfect man. He’s alpha but also beta, flawed, brave, sexy, compassionate, ruthless…the list goes on and on. The heroine is one of the strongest female protagonists of all time, in my opinion. And when you throw in the time travel element? Pure magic.
Natural Born Charmer, Susan Elizabeth Phillips
NO ONE CAN RESIST A NATURAL BORN CHARMER
A gorgeous football player …
A Lonely Colorado highway …
A woman dressed in a beaver suit.
Life’s funny that way.
It wasn’t every day a guy saw a headless beaver marching down the side of a road, not even in Chicago Stars quarterback Dean Robillard’s larger-than-life world. He slammed on the brakes of his brand-new Aston Martin Vanquish and pulled over in front of her.
The beaver marched right past, her big, flat tail bouncing in the gravel, and her small, sharp nose stuck up in the air. Way up. The beaver looked highly pissed …
She was definitely a girl beaver because her beaver head was missing, revealing sweaty, dark hair pulled into a scraggly ponytail. He’d been praying for a little distraction from his own depressing company, so he threw open the door and stepped out onto the shoulder of the Colorado road …
Funny, sexy, and touching—Natural Born Charmer is the unforgettable love story of a golden boy who might be losing his luster and a spirited woman who’s learned never to depend on anyone but herself.
I knew I wanted to include a Susan Elizabeth Phillips book on my list, but it was so hard to pick just one! I finally chose Natural Born Charmer because it’s the one I’ve reread the most. It is laugh out loud funny, with out-of-this-world chemistry between the main characters, and (my favorite thing ever) a football setting. SEP is so talented at writing snappy, realistic dialogue. She’s one of my biggest inspirations in my own writing.
Wanderlust is the story of Audrey Driscoll. Orphaned young, Audrey has grown up caring for her eccentric millionaire grandfather and her demanding younger sister, Annabelle, who assume she will always be there for them. Sheltered yet restless, responsible beyond her years yet hungering for experience, Audrey is hopelessly bound until she herself makes the daring decision to leave. As the 1930s unfold, alone, camera in hand, she will shock friends and outrage family as she plunges headlong into the wider world.
Crossing the Atlantic aboard the luxurious Queen Mary, Audrey meets James and Violet Hawthorne, who will draw her into a sophisticated circle of artists and expatriates. And it is they who will introduce her to Charles Parker-Scott, in who Audrey will come to recognize a twin soul, a man propelled by relentless curiosity and driven by conflicting needs for intimacy and independence. Together they will spend an exquisite summer at Cap d’Antibes, then board the Orient Express on an adventure that will carry them to a remote outpost in China. But at the farthest reaches of this journey Aubrey must choose again. Japan has attacked China. Charles knows he must return to Europe at once. But Audrey becomes involved with a besieged orphanage and decides to remain in China without Charles, caring for the abandoned children until help arrives.
In time Audrey will return to America with a daughter of her own. While she must come home to San Francisco to confront a world irrevocably changed by time, she finds she cannot stay. From prewar Germany to London during the Blitz, from a wrenching reunion with Charles to a war zone in North Africa, again and again she must choose between the dictates of her conscience and the yearnings of her heart. For Audrey Driscoll and the men and women whose lives touch hers, wanderlust is the inescapable element. Born at a time when women were expected to stay close to home and fulfill traditional roles, Audrey is compelled to follow the thread of events that will destroy the complacency of the past and shape the future. From Europe to China, from San Francisco to North Africa, she is irresistibly drawn into a man’s world of conflict, discovery, and danger.
In a vivid novel of breathtaking scope, Danielle Steel has once again surpassed herself in creating an unforgettable tale of men and women caught in the tides of personal drama and historic event. Wanderlust is Danielle Steel’s finest journey.
I gush about this book a lot. It is one of my favorites, and I take it with me whenever I travel. I’ve read it about a hundred times. And yet I can’t exactly pinpoint why I love it so much. It’s typical Danielle Steel, with the same basic romance-saga formula her books tend to follow. But this one…gosh, I just adore it. The heroine has the kind of strength I could only dream of having, and the book is rich with history and settings that really take your breath away. Again, magic.
The Ugly Duckling, Iris Johansen
If fate suddenly made you more beautiful than you ever dreamed possible, would it be the beginning of a fairy tale, or your worst nightmare?
The brutal attack should have killed anybody, but Nell Calder did more than survive. She emerged a woman transformed, with an exquisite beauty found only in fairy tales. Nell Calder deserved a happy ending. Instead, her descent into terror has just begun.
Her attacker is still on the hunt, determined to finish what he’s started. And Nell, protected by a new face, is just as determined to fight back and take her revenge. But to catch her prey, she will have to expose herself—even if it makes her a killer’s prime target.
This is the book that made me fall in love with romantic suspense. It’s fast-paced, exciting, intense, and romantic. The heroine starts off as weak but a trauma in her life turns her into one of the toughest, most kickass heroines I’ve ever read. And the hero is the definition of alpha badass. I’ve read this book so many times, and it never gets old for me. It introduced me to a genre that blew me away, and pushed me to write my own kickass heroines.
Standing in the Shadows, Shannon McKenna
Ex-FBI agent Connor McCloud can never forget the day he was set up to die at the hands of trusted friend and fellow agent Ed Riggs. Hard justice and loyalty to his badge have cost Connor what he wants most–Ed’s shy, studious daughter Erin. He can never have her now, but her beauty still haunts and torments his every waking hour and his most fevered erotic dreams. But now that his old enemy Kurt Novak has returned, Connor is prepared to do anything to protect the vulnerable young woman from a killer who has vowed a brutal payback. . .a killer with a predator’s lethal patience.
Erin has been harboring secret fantasies about Connor McCloud since she first laid eyes on him–but that was before his testimony sent her father to jail. Her world is falling apart and it’s all she can do to hold her family together. But now Connor is knocking on her door, telling her she needs his protection, whether she wants it or not. He won’t give up and he won’t stay away. He’s sworn to guard her life with his own and his fierce protectiveness awakens long-buried feelings–and a fiery sexuality deep within her soul. . .
This one was another eye-opener for me in terms of romantic suspense, mainly because of the unbelievably erotic scenes between Connor and Erin. The dirty talk…gosh, the dirty talk. McKenna is one of my go-to authors. She has a talent for combining the hottest sex scenes ever with the most exciting action scenes ever. This was my introduction to the McCloud Brothers series, and then not only did I go back to read the previous ones, but I proceeded to buy all the next books, dying of impatience for each one to come out.
About Elle:
A New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a B.A. in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer, and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager.
Elle writes romantic suspense and erotic contemporary romance for various publishers. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, and just enough heat and danger to keep things interesting!
Check out Elle’s latest release:
What an intriguing assortment of books! I’ve read all save for Wanderlust though admittedly I read Outlander soon (cough, cough) after it was published. I’ve enjoyed your The Mistake and The Deal and am awaiting my copy of Him. Happy writing!
I agree with Kareni, this is an interesting assortment of books. I really liked Natural Born Charmer. So freaking much. The McKenna and the Johansen both look like good reads. Must check those out.
Wanderlust was a favorite of mine, too. I haven’t read it in many years – and to be honest I’d be afraid to try it now – but oh how I remember paging through my tattered copy. The drama! The angst!
Choosing just one SEP is difficult. While I loved NBC, I think I’d have to go with Dream a Little Dream or Kiss An Angel.
Ooh, Kiss an Angel is a good one but I liked NBC more than DaLD.