Although I love to write contemporary romance, when I want to relax, I usually read historical. Maybe it's just different enough that I feel no obligation to analyze as I read. I can just sit back and be entertained, thank you very much. (Lazy? Moi? Perish the thought.)
Lately I've been on a Mary Balogh kick. For some unfathomable reason I'd never read her until Eloisa James showed me an advance copy of her book "The Secret Mistress." I adore Eloisa James and really hope I can be reborn as her in a future lifetime. I figured, if Eloisa likes MB, I ought to give her a try.
Two series later, I'm in awe. First I tore through the "Slightly" series, which is all about the arrogant, wild Bedwyn family. "Slightly Sinful, Slightly Unforgettable," and so forth. There are five books in this series, and, since I do everything backwards, I just discovered the book that first introduced the family -- "A Summer to Remember." These books have intense characters, wonderful humor and delicious romance. They're sublime, from beginning to end.
*Note: You will never find me saying a bad thing about a book. Not that all books are perfect (especially mine). But since I began writing, and know how difficult it is, I find I don't have it in me to be critical anymore. I leave the criticism to others, and I thank them for it. It needs to be done -- just not by me.
Related to the Slightly series is the Simply series, four books about the teachers at a girls school in Bath. I love that they're about women who aren't living the privileged life, but who are making their own way in a frequently treacherous world. The degree of emotion these stories inspire is amazing.
I know Mary Balogh is still writing stories linked to these series. I believe her next book is about the cousin of the heroine of "A Summer to Remember." Sometimes it's hard to keep all the relationships straight from one book to the next, but it doesn't matter unless you like keeping track of such things. So if you're looking for a wonderful author with a enormous backlist, who's still producing great books, give Mary Balogh a try.
So ... your turn. Do you have any recs for me? I'm looking for a historical series I can really lose myself in.
Thanks!
Time for a postcard from beautiful Homer, Alaska, otherwise known as the "quaint little drinking village with a fishing problem." It's finally starting to warm up here and we've been inundated with RV's trundling through town. Homer is known as the "End of the Road," because, well, you can probably figure it out. Only one highway heads south from Anchorage -- we call it Highway 1 -- and it runs out of pavement when it gets to Homer. Tourists come for the halibut fishing, the stunning views of glaciers right across Kachemak Bay, and for glimpses of the Time Bandit, which you may know from The Deadliest Catch. 
Many of the RV's wind up on the Homer Spit, a long finger of mud that stretches toward the majestic mountains across the bay. Here you can park your traveling home, camp, eat everything from pizza to king crab, and bask in the alpenglow. The Spit is kind of like the Atlantic City Boardwalk, Alaska style. Instead of fried clams, we have fried halibut. The Salty Dawg Saloon tends to be more popular than the ice cream shop, simply because there's often a knife-cold wind blowing in from the ocean. The "Better Sweater" shop is always busy. It's hard to foresee just how cold it's going to be when you're visiting from Nashville or Florida. A cruise ship docks in Homer every two weeks, spilling out passengers who hop onto shuttles when they want to venture into the rest of town. Homer goes out of its way to offer visitors a good experience. Even the extra-clean public bathrooms feature bald eagles scenically perched on the lampposts outside. 
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