My second book, The Leopard Prince, is out this week. This makes me a relatively new author and I have a terrible confession to make.
I hate trying new authors.
Okay, maybe hate is too strong a word, but in a perfect world I’d probably be content to read the same favorite authors over and over again. A couple of Lisa Kleypases this week, Julia Quinn and Stephanie Laurens next week, followed by a Christina Dodd and a Connie Brockway, with a Suzanne Brockmann thrown in for variety. Unfortunately, even the most prolific of my favorite authors don’t write that fast—and don’t get me started on Julia Quinn’s deplorable habit of writing only one book a year. This means that unless I want to only read one or two books a month (horrors!) I need to try a new author every once and a while.
Now that I’m a fairly new author I’ve decided that I’m upping every once and a while to twice a month. Twice a month—that’s 24 new authors in a year. And actually I’m looking forward to trying some new authors, because have you seen some of the new books coming out this year? Some of them look really nifty. Here’s my list so far:
Anna Campbell’s Claiming the Courtesan. This book got both a Top Pick! from Romantic Times and a D review from All About Romance. Call me contrary, but any book with that amount of divergence in reviews has got to be interesting.
Shannon K. Butcher’s No Regrets. A debut romantic suspense that got another Top Pick! from RT.
Loretta Chase’s Mr. Impossible. Yes, sadly, I’ve never read Loretta Chase before *hangs head in shame* I’ve heard that this is a very funny book, though, and I like funny.
Diana Holquist’s Make Me a Match. This book is actually from last year, but it’s a debut and I’ve heard it’s funny. See above
J.R. Ward’s Dark Lover. Vampires usually aren’t my cup of tea, but everyone’s talking about Ms. Ward and I’m feeling left out of the conversation. Also, she’s supposed to be hot, which is never a bad thing. 
Jim Butcher’s Storm Front. What can I say? The man’s appearing at the RT convention, his books have been made into a TV show, there must be something I’m missing here.
Okay, I could probably keep going, but this post is long enough. I’m giving away an autographed copy of The Raven Prince to a lucky poster so she (or he) can try a new author, too. ;-) I’d like to hear about new authors you’ve tried in the last year, and especially anyone you’d recommend I read. After all, I’ve still got 18 slots to fill!
Cheers!
Elizabeth
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The book I’m reading right now is Arousing Suspicions by Marianne Stillings and I’ve never read a book by her but I’ll be looking for her other books because this one is very good.
by Maureen
on March 29th, 2007 at 8:39 am
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Recent new-author reads include “Petticoat Ranch” by Mary Connealy and “And Then He Kissed Her” by Laura Lee Guhrke and “Cupid on a Missioon” by Laura Hamby.
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Gosh, I’ve tried a few new authors lately…new to me anyway!
The most recent is Harlan Coben and his Myron Bolitar series. I love it!
I went on a glom and obtained all of the Myron books out to date. I’ve not tried any of his non-Myron ones yet, though.
Then there is Stephanie Tyler…I am reading her debut Blaze, Coming Undone right now and loving it!
Sylvia Day is a new to me author that I tired for the first time recently….The stranger I married went into the “keeper” stack.
I totally recommend Jill Shalvis. She is not a new to me author, but she is one of my faves! My favorites of hers are “Aussie Rules” and “Get a Clue”. “Smart and Sexy” is on my TBR pile.
J R Ward is on the top of my TBB list…I guess I am one of the last holdouts and I also felt like I was missing something, so I’ll be starting on those soon as well! and along the same lines, is Keri Arthur and the Riley Jensen series. Broke down and bought the first in the series!
by Angie T
on March 29th, 2007 at 9:03 am
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Private Confessions by Lori Borrill. It’s her first book and was very good.
I couldn’t agree more with Angie T about Jill Shalvis! If you haven’t read anything by her you’re missing out.
by Susan
on March 29th, 2007 at 9:33 am
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I’ve read “Taken” by Barbara Freethy and could not put this book down. It’s a romantic suspense. Another good book that I read was “When Darkness Comes” by Alexandra Ivy. That one is a paranormal romance. Lately, I’ve enjoyed reading romantic suspense. Gayle Wilson is another good author. I read a book by her titled “The Inquisitor”. It just depends on my mood on what I will read next but these few authors were very good.
by Janet
on March 29th, 2007 at 9:51 am
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A new author that I recently read is Jacquelyn Frank. Her book Jacob is fantastic and is the first of The Nightwalker series.
by Christy H.
on March 29th, 2007 at 10:14 am
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I have read a wonderful new author, Monica Wood whose book Any Bitter Thing, I loved. I will be reading a new author, Elizabeth McGregor, A Road Through The mountains, and Before I Go by Riley Weston.
by alissa
on March 29th, 2007 at 10:22 am
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Shannon Greenland:
Descent into Danger
Laura’s Secrets
Jessica Inclan:
When You Believe
Reason to Believe
Believe in Me
by Little Lamb Lost
on March 29th, 2007 at 10:25 am
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I recently read Storm Front by Jim Butcher and it was great, and I will defiitely be picking up the rest of the series.
I’m going to be trying some new urban fantasy authors…I have one book coming called STRAY by Rachel Vincent which I’m looking forward to.
I love trying new authors. If the premise of the book interests me I’ll look for more info, like review reviewers or if people are talking about it on blogs. Then I’ll likely pick it up.
by Vivi Anna
on March 29th, 2007 at 11:11 am
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Because of my limited reading time, I’ve been reading most familiar authors from my TBR pile. But here are a few new-to-me authors that I’ve read recently and enjoyed. A couple of them, I read the ebook versions of their works, but I’m about 99% sure that they have books in print too.
Laura Lee Gurhke
Maya Banks
Doreen Orsini
Rene Lyons (Love her Vampire Templar series)
by Jennifer K.
on March 29th, 2007 at 11:37 am
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Keri Arthur
Janette Kenny
Cheynee McCray
Karen Chance
Stephanie Tyler
Amy Knupp
Wendie Markham
Jacquelyn Frank
Shiloh Walker
by Crystal B.
on March 29th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
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Well, let me tell you a story that I could kick myself over everytime I think of it. I had Teresa MEderios’s Yours Until Dawn sitting on my to read pile for a year. So, I finally picked it up and looooooooooved it. Then I started looking for others, including the two last books, even though I’m not a big vampire fan. Just never know until you pick it up! LOL :)
Lois
by Lois
on March 29th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
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New to me authors whose books I have obtained lately:
Lisa Gardner - Gone
Candy Halliday - Your Bed or Mine
Pat White - Silent Memories
by RobynL
on March 29th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
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My favorite historical romance writers I love (some of whom may or may not be new to you):
Eloisa James
Julie Anne Long
Teresa Medeiros
Jo Beverly
Gaelen Foley
Laura Lee Guhrke
Liz Carlyle
Anne Gracie
Pam Rosenthal
None of these authors are new, but maybe some will be new to you. As for actual new authors, the only one (besides yourself) that comes to mind is a book I just ordered from Amazon.com after I read the excerpt on a website. It’s “Dedication” by Janet Mullany. I can’t officially recommend it yet because it hasn’t yet arrived, but I’m really excited. The excerpt was awesome.
And here are some ideas that are off the normal historical romance track:
Lois McMaster Bujold (particularly “A Civil Campaign”). She writes Regency. It’s just that her Regency is set several thousand years in the future. Her books get classified as sci-fi, but there are strong romantic elements, and the science takes a back seat to culture and character. ACC has definite Heyer overtones.
Barry Hughart’s “Bridge of Birds”. Also a romance–of a very odd sort–and technically a “fantasy” novel, but it’s otherwise unclassifiable. It’s not a novel like anything I’ve ever read before. Doesn’t fit into any category ever. Highly recommended. This is one of my top 10 favorite books of all time.
Terry Pratchett. Anything by him, but particularly the Tiffany Aching series.
by CM
on March 29th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
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A new author that I just recently tried out that hooked me would be Maureen Child.
Some authors that are already favorites would be:
Christine Feehan
Gena Showalter
Robin Owens
Rachel Lee
Linda Howard
Dee Henderson
Colleen Coble
by Cherie Japp
on March 29th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
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A new author I’ve discovered this year is Denise Skelton. I’m currently reading her new book My Angel. I also discovered Colleen Gleason her book The Rest Falls Away was excellent.
by Teresa W.
on March 29th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
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Hi all,
I’m new to JR Ward too, I just got Lover Revealed. I’ll have to start at the beginning soon and I can’t wait for October to come for her next one.
I have to confess, I haven’t tried to many new authors either. But my favorites include
Jennifer Cruise
SEP
Suzanne Brockmann
Linda Howard
Lisa Kleypas
Julie Garwood
I’m looking forward to getting some new authors from this list too!
by Carol
on March 29th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
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I’ve started reading books by Allison Brennan, Tami Hoag, Emilie Richards, Luanne Rice, and Erica Spindler. They have all been very good!
by Carol
on March 29th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
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Just finished Shannon Butcher’s No Regrets, and it is really good.
Other new authors:
Esther Mitchell
Gail Delaney
Keri Arthur
Cindy Gerard
Beverly Jenkins
Vijaya Schartz
Karen Chance
by Cathy
on March 29th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
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For contemporary romance I recommend Jill Shalvis - and my other newest favorite author is Jodi Picoult - any of her books.
by catslady
on March 29th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
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Any of Deidre Knight’s Parallel Attraction, Parallel Heat and now Parallel Seduction.
by Joyce
on March 29th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
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You probably never heard of her, but I found this totally awesome new author named Elizabeth Hoyt. Man is she HOT…
I just got such a lovely google alert that someone was blogging about me. What a kick! Thanks for recommending my book, Make Me a Match. It is a risky debut–since it’s a contemporary romantic comedy with a paranormal twist. It’s about a psychic gypsy who can tell you the name of your One True Love. Or can she…? ;-)
Happy reading!
–Diana Holquist
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Definitely have to recommend PC Cast’s Divine Series. Divine By Mistake and Divine By Chance. Great books. Jo Leigh’s also good and Donna Kauffman.
by Lis
on March 30th, 2007 at 2:18 am
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I already have your two publkished books so please don’t enter me. Last year I tried you as a new author and I am really hook with your heroes. I can’t wait for Simon’s story. To me he is just so sexy.
Let me see, some new authors that I tried recently:
Jolie Mathis- The Sea King
Dennise Rossetti -Gift of the Goddess
J.R Ward and her brothers - Dark Lover, Lover Eternal,Lover Awakened ( LE and LA are my favorites in the series)THIS ARE MUST READ
Lisa Valdes-Passion
Sylvia Day-The stranger I married and Ask for it
Tawny Taylor-Body and soul
Nalini Singh-Slave to Sensation and Visions of heat (THIS ARE MUST READ)
Patti O’Shea-Eterenal Nights (two best friends story turn into lovers) GREAT
These are some of them. Have fun reading!
by Barbara
on March 30th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
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Ack! Sorry for responding so late! My internet was wonky all day yesterday 
But THANK YOU for all the recommendations! I’d forgotten Nalini Singh (she’s been getting a lot of buzz lately, hasn’t she?); Allison Brennon (talk about suddenly shooting to the top!); Anne Gracie (ditto: buzz) and, ooo! Pam Rosenthal. So many good books, so little time. :grin:
And now for the winner…LOIS who finally read T. Mederios. LOL! you sound a lot like me. Contact me via my website, Lois, and I’ll send you an autographed copy of THE RAVEN PRINCE!
