If you want something light and funny, with a bit of romance, try The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.
Not something to make the heart beat faster (no sex), but very enjoyable.
Otherwise, try Karen Stivali. I speak to her on Twitter, and she is very nice, and I have enjoyed her books very much. Try Meant to Be. There is a follow up too, and I have also read Leave the Lights On and thought it quite good. Certainly, unlike some books of this genre, it has good grammar and sentence construction :)
Also, The Unidentified Redhead or Wallbanger by Alice Clayton are fun. Apparently the latter is P2P (pulled to publish) Twilight fan fiction, but I was very surprised to find that out.

Have you read Susanna Kearsley?

I second Susanna Kearsley -- her books remind me of the Victoria Holt books I read and loved at one time. I've started collecting some Victoria Holt books to reread when I've read everything else available.

I love Susanna Kearsley and have read most of hers.

A few years ago I read a lovely little book called A Year of Cats and Dogs by Margaret Hawkins. It helps to like pets, but is not strictly necessary to enjoy this book. A very likeable heroine, a fanciful situation, but written in a matter-of-fact straightforward style that made it very heartwarming for me. Well, come to think of it, I don't think it will get your heart pumping. But it is a lovely story and I will recommend it nonetheless.

Many thanks for the titles and new authors - I have not read any of them, so looking forward to picking some up during my next library trip. I am also assuming that they do not have the following kind of cover to them, otherwise I will bring brown paper to wrap them in. *just kidding!! But isnt that cover ridiculous???

Had second thoughts about a very silly comment.

This post was edited by rosefolly on Sun, Jan 19, 14 at 21:24

There are a lot of silly thoughts you could say about that cover.

Also, sorry about the size...I need to figure out how to resize those pictures. This one could have been half or a quarter of that size. It's rather startling that close to the eyeballs.

I actually just spent an hour or so reading the history of romance covers. The glaring one above is from the 80's when they were all Fabios and half-naked damsels, in the 90's we saw the Object Covers: Flowers, Jewelry, and Swords appearing which were in reaction to all those readers who were embarrassed to be seen in public with said Fabio covers. Also Walmart felt more comfortable displaying those.
Then came the headless men, the rearing horse covers. Cartoon covers began showing up and lately, we see landscape covers which look so lovely we want to step right in.
There are numerous articles on the web giving advice to writers about how to choose a cover, and how important it is to have a good one because it strongly influences a reader's choice.
I do know that it can influence me, some covers just draw me right in. For example, I thought that A Tale for the Time Being, the book we discussed back in October had an uninspiring cover. Rather disappointing.

I recall being taken in by a cover. I have moaned about this before, I think. "Grandma Fights Back" featuring a feisty looking senior so I thought I was getting a humorous book instead of a long whine about the relationship with her daughter deteriorating after she refused to be an unpaid childminder.
This was the basis of an entire paperback book!
I am sorry to say that I don't take much notice of all the stuff on women's magazine covers because they are so cluttered. I know they go to a lot of trouble and expense to feature a suitable cover person too!
All wasted on me!

Janalyn, if you haven't already, try the Smart B*tches Who Love Trashy Books blog. They represent a large community of romance readers and are always willing to recommend books.

Don't let the name intimidate you, they're friendly as long as you don't troll them.

They are also quite good at helping people to find barely remembered romances and unafraid of negatively criticising romance novels that deserve it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Smart B*thes

P.S. I always recommend Nora Roberts, especially some of her older novels, e.g. Northern Lights, Montana Sky or the Chesapeake Bay trilogy.

Janalyn, I well-remember the cover of the book you posted above and the long intellectual discussion that resulted from it; most informative.
Wasn't it The Unsettling Affects of Purple Sunsets as a Causation of Naked Lust and Unbridled Passion by the Rev. Dr. Flyte de Fancee?

Ahh yes. Mothers everywhere used to wave copies of that book at their daughters, exclaiming how at all times we must avoid nuditst colonies especially during purple sunsets. Sigh. The ole Rev made a killing from the sales of that book. LOL!! The title was perfect Vee!!

Just wanted to thank you all for the Kearsley recommendation since I picked up The Rose Garden at the library earler and have read four chapters already. It's perfect, exactly what I was looking for. And this particularly heroine has personal ties to both Vancouver and Cornwall, as do I. Most of the story takes place in Cornwall btw. For all you fellow gardeners,one of the characters grows old roses (which I love but the dreaded black spot makes it hard for them to thrive here) as a commerical business! So that has been the icing on the cake.
I also approve of her cover :) :

I love the racy cover! It's so completely over the top!

OK, I probably suggested stuff a bit too racy (erotic romance I think it's termed).
Glad you found just the right thing, though :)

Oh I'll get around to your suggestions, Kath. The library didn't have any Karen Stivali books, and I am 39th on the hold list for fourteen...fourteen!! copies of The Rosie Project. The problem I have with a lot of erotic romance is, as you said, good grammar, sentence construction and paragraphs that are like that overthetop book cover. :) So I appreciate your recommendations. I still sigh over Jamie Fraser. The Outlander was so much fun!

How the romance novel has changed over the years!
When I started working in a library (Boots Subscription Library, Vee, remember it?) in the fifties, Mills and Boon were the top publishers.
The girls were sweet innocents, the men experienced (but from where wasn't mentioned!) and the lovers often got together after one or the other had been hospitalised!
Then things got more racy with the busty historical wenches and their lusty men, then came sex and shopping and now ....well...it is quite different!
I expect there are theses and books about all this.

I discovered Stella Riley last year and really enjoy her books. She wrote several historicals with romantic subplots set during the English Civil War. She also wrote some Georgian romances that I'd recommend to anyone who likes Georgette Heyer's books.

Some other romance authors I've enjoyed: Laura Kinsale, Jo Goodman, and Judith Ivory (also wrote under the name Judy Cuevas). And if you have a weakness for pirate romances, Marsha Canham's are a lot of fun.

Ann, yes I remember the old Boots lending libraries. Didn't they charge about 3d a book? We had a small branch in the room above their chemists shop in Stratford where I grew up. I seem to remember they were considered slightly a cut above the 'Public Library' Perhaps they were considered more hygienic?!

Here is a link that might be useful: Boots Libraries

Vee..The 3d was for extra books. In the 1950s there were two tiers of subscriptions and the A rate entitled a subscriber to the newest publications and a booklet to write in books chosen from the monthly list of publications and newspaper reviews. The library staff would put aside books for the A readers or chose one from their list. The Bs chose their own books from racks that had books which had been out for three months.
The advantage was that the books were recently published and popular authors were purchased in multiples so there wasn't too long to wait. They would have been less used so cleaner than those in the Public Libraries.
My two sisters and I started work at a Boots Library, which was a part of a large chain of Chemists, after we left school. It was a good and well regarded firm, we got a staff discount from the counters which sold jewellery and stationery as well as many other items in addition to the pharmacy ones.
We all later left for Public Service and office work and a better chance of promotion. Boots did have exams to eventually promote an assistant to becoming a librarian but these qualifications weren't recognised by the Public Library system.

I used to like Rosamund Pilcher's novels. I suppose you've read them? Just a thought.