Holly: I am a long time fan of Hannah Howell. She was the first romance author I discovered on my own when I became an avid fan of the genre. I had been reading Julie Garwood historicals and wanted something new. I was in the store and saw His Bonnie Bride
Then it was Linda Howard. She was the second author I glommed. I binge read her entire backlist. Again and again I turned to her backlist. Around about the time she released Kiss Me While I Sleep I lost faith in her. Though I still enjoy her books, I find they don’t hold up to her previous releases. Julie Garwood lost me when she made the transition from historical to contemporary.
I still turn to Howard’s backlist (the older books anyway) and Garwood’s historicals (especially the Highlander books), but I haven’t read anything Garwood has published since Shadow Music, and I haven’t bought or read any of Howard’s books since Ice. I tried reading Howell’s new series, but it felt like she was just recycling the same plots and characters from her Murray series. Part of me still hopes they’ll release something that blows my socks off, but I’m afraid that’ll never happen.
Rowena: Julie Garwood has been a favorite of mine for as long as I’ve been a reader. There was a time when I had read every single book that she wrote and I was at the bookstore first thing in the morning the day of her new release but those days are gone. I have more books in my TBR pile by Garwood than I have books read by her. I want to blame the move from historical to contemporary but that wasn’t it…at least not at first. I loved her older contemporary books (all of them except Killjoy) but I’ve just grown away from her books now. I kept hoping that she would go back and write another historical but then she did…and I didn’t read it. I kept hoping that she would write Justin from The Prize’s book but that never came so I think I’ve gone and completely given up.
Then there’s Sherrilyn Kenyon. I went to dinner with a book friend of mine (Hi Bri!) and The Dark Hunters series was brought up and ugh. This was another author and series that I used to spend entirely too much time thinking and reading up about. Holly and I were addicted to her DH site and we talked theories out and gushed about characters. We were complete fangirls and then the long ass wait for Ash’s book pissed me off, along with the breaking of her own rules for the world made me want gauge my eyes out with a spoon, so I gave up on that one, too. My friend Bri just started reading that series this year and she was hooked for a couple of books, but the excitement has died down and after reading Ash’s book, she’s done with the series too.
Are there any favorites of yours that have fallen off the favorite wagon as the years have gone by?
Well … there was a time in my teens when I owned over 100 Barbara Cartland books. I haven’t read anything by her in years! More recently, I stopped reading J. D. Robb’s books; however, I suspect I’ll pick up again sometime where I left off (at about book 35 in the …in Death series.)
I stopped reading J.D. Robb sometime around the 34th book (I’m fairly certain Celebrity was the last one I read) but I know I’ll go back to it at some point. I just needed a break.
I haven’t read Cartland in..I don’t even know when. I know I’ll never read her again.
Likewise — Barbara Cartland is definitely in my past not my future!
The dark, sexy plots of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series just plain old did it for me. But after book 16 or so, I just sort of stopped caring. I did finish her whole Merry Gentry series and still love the idea of it. Might have to re-read…
Karen Marie Moning is a favorite, but I’m liking her newer work less than her older Highlander stuff. The urban fantasy is a bit over-the-top dramatic for my taste. I needs me a lot more romance and a lot less shit happening to characters I care about.
I like Julie Garwood but never became a die hard fan. I loved The Bride!
I never got into KMM’s new stuff. I tried reading the first book several times and DNF’d it each time. I wish she’d go back to writing the Highlanders. Though I wonder if I’d actually like them now? My tastes have changed a lot since she stopped writing those.
Sherrilyn Kenyon has fallen off my radar after Acheron came out. Probably because I waited so long for it.
Julie Garwood is another. I won’t read her contemporaries. I re-read her historicals, but after reading her first contemp, I gave up on her. Linda Howard much of the same. I don’t like the new stuff, but love the older ones.
Linda Howard is the biggie for me – it started to get a bit wobbly in the early 2000’s but you keep buying hoping that the next one will be better than the last and then To Die For finished me off! For me it was unreadable.
Nalini Singh is getting close – I only read the Psy books and they have been going for 10 years now and for me, the freshness has gone from the series.
It’s interesting that you mention Singh, because I just started reading the series in the past year and I disagree. The series still feels fresh and imaginative. I wonder if I’d feel differently if I’d been reading since the first book was released?
I didn’t hate To Die For the way others did, but I agree it signaled the end. Which still makes me sad. Her older books are still favorites, even after all these years.
I think part of the reason with Singh is that when the series initially started we were getting 2 paperback books a year which was great. Then the series went hardcover and and since 2011 there has only been 1 book a year. That is a long time between books, especially books that have an involved/evolving backstory.
I have all the books but I haven’t read the last two yet . . .