Historical Romances with Wineries, Breweries, Vineyards, Distilleries, and Moonshine.

Its midweek. Well almost. Yeah. Pour yourself a drink--at least inside these great Romance Novels!

My lists are never in any particular order.

1. Saving Grace by Julie Garwood (Might be my favorite Garwood)

2. Still Sweet by Debra Marshall

3. Heaven Sent by Pamela Morsi

4. The Very Virile Viking by Sandra Hill

5. Lady X's Cowboy by Zoe Archer

6. Scarred Hearts by Bonnie Dee

7. Home Fires by Susan Kay Law

8. Rashi's Daughters: Joheved by Maggie Anton

9. In Name Only by Janet Bieber

10. Sweeter than Wine by Michaela August

I would love to know about more Romances with this theme!

To vote for the best of the best, go to my Goodreads list: Aged: Historical Romance with Wineries, Distilleries, and other Booze Making. 

I always find it an unexpected pleasure when a romance novel I am reading carefully weaves in an exploration of women's rights.  Depending on the historical setting or world that has been created, the subtle and not so subtle cultural forces of gender and how to find a love that truly sees you within those structures create a powerful level of truth that makes me fully engage with the story 

Also, these kinds of everyday but unusual conflicts of the right to vote, own property, not be property, control of reproduction, intellectual equality, bodily autonomy, hold public office, fair wages, education, military service, legal contacts, and so on make for excellent plots. 

I would like to recommend for you the most excellent blog Romance Novels of Feminist: for readers who like a little equity with their love. 

Here is a list of great love stories that also think carefully about Women's Rights. 

1. Shotgun Wedding by Maggie Osborne examines the real consequences of putting the philosophies of New Modern Womanhood into action. 

2. In Name Only by Janet Bieber explores how a heroine frees herself from her own inflexible beliefs. 

3. Never a Gentleman (The Drake's Rakes, #2)  by Eileen Dyer showcases a remarkable heroine who due to circumstances beyond her control submits to convention. 

4. Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1) by Sarah MacLean looks at the social restrictions on women in a more light hearted but still truthful way.

5. A Kiss For Midwinter (Brothers Sinister, #1.5)  by Courtney Milan confronts the father's ownership of a daughter. 

6. After Hours by Cara McKenna is a contemporary look at the the intersection of class and gender.

7. A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer gives us a matriarchal world where men are expected to be virgin and the nurtures and women are the warriors. 

8. The Lady's Tutor by Robin Schone digs into a women's suppressed sexuality and contraception  in the Victorian Age. 

9. Saving Grace  by Julie Garwood frames womanhood as seen by the Church.

10. A Lady's Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran marvelously reveals the difference between working class women and and those of the upper class. 

 As always, I would love your suggestions for great love stories that deal with issues of Women's Rights.

If you would like to vote for the best of best, go to the Goodreads list: Women's Rights in Romance Novels. 

The reason I read romance is because I love the simple dynamic of two people (or three or more) beginning to build a life together. I like the interaction of one character with another.  I read lots of other kinds of books but the promise of the Happily Ever After appeals to me the most. 

I adore great world building but this is mainly as a frame for the relationship.  My favorite romance novels tend to be character driven. The conflicts are based in who the leads are instead of some outside force. I find I like this internal conflict especially in Historical Romances where hand wringing villains tend to lurk in every shadow.

I would love more Paranormal Romances to be character driven. I think this is why I admire and reread the books of Robin Owens so much. Her books are always character based even when there are outside forces at work.

I have offered my Best Historical Romance Novel choices here that are character driven. These are historical romance books with no villains. The plots are based on who the characters are and the relationship as the plot. 

As always, I would love your recommendations! If you would like to vote for the best of best, please click over to the Goodreads list: Best Character Driven Historical Romance. 

Romance readers have feelings all over the map about the role of childern in romance novels.  Some readers don't like kids eating next to them in a restaurant and so they certainly don't want them mucking around in their sexy novels.  

Then, there are the baby crazy readers who get that glazed over hormonal look whenever they see a wee one and of course adore little sticky handprints all over their romantic fiction.

We also have the neutral readers who like kids mixed into the plot as long as the child characters are well written. 

I am with the neutral readers mostly but I do have one kind of romantic writing with childern I particularly  enjoy.  

I treasure romance novels that really contemplate motherhood. These stories think about maternal love. There is often a secondary love story there in the complicated rich love a mother has for her child or in the lack of mother/child love that one of the leads has experienced and now is getting to see.  These last kind trace the healing of that kind of love. 

These are not books about pregnant heroines but rather heroines balancing childern and romantic love or being mothered themselves in a way that makes the reader think about motherhood. Poignant and real. I love these books.

I have noted some of my favorite romances that do this tender work above and if you would like to make some recommendations, I would love to hear them.

You can also cast your votes on my Goodreads List: Love and Motherhood: Romance Novels