I first discovered Western romances by reading those written by my favorite authors who also wrote in other sub-genres (when I was gobbling up their backlists). Since then, I have become a true fan of the sub-genre and find myself every now and then reaching for a good romance from the Old West. So, it seemed a “best” list was in order to share some of these wonderful stories with you.
Here are the best of those I’ve read…all rated 4, 4 and ½ or 5 stars by me. Some have won Golden Heart, RITA and other awards.
I think you’ll like these!
• Mountain Mistress by Nadine Crenshaw
• Captive Melody by Nadine Crenshaw
• Love Cherish Me by Rebecca Brandewyne
• Under The Desert Moon by Marsha Canham
• Heart of the West by Penelope Williamson
• The Outsider by Penelope Williamson
• Night Wind’s Woman, White Apache’s Woman and Deep as the Rivers, trilogy by Shirl Henke
• Capture the Sun, The Endless Sky and Sundancer, trilogy by Shirl Henke
• A Fire in the Blood by Shirl Henke
• McCrory’s Lady by Shirl Henke
• Broken Vows by Shirl Henke
• Love Unwilling By Shirl Henke
• Comanche Moon, Comanche Heart and Indigo Blue (from the Comanche series) by Catherine Anderson
• Reckless Angel by Elizabeth Awbrey (aka Elizabeth Stuart)
• Fair is the Rose by Meagan McKinney
• The Darkest Heart by Brenda Joyce
• Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O’Connell
• Sing My Name by Ellen O’Connell
• Dancing on Coals by Ellen O’Connell
• Beautiful Bad Man by Ellen O'Connell
• Pieces of Sky, Open Country and Chasing the Sun (the Blood Rose trilogy) by Kaki Warner
• Brighter Than Gold by Cynthia Wright
• Fireblossom and Wildblossom, the Matthews duology by Cynthia Wright
• Innocent Fire, Firestorm, Violet Fire and The Fires of Paradise (from The Bragg Saga) by Brenda Joyce
• Brave the Wild Wind, Savage Thunder and Angel, Wyoming trilogy by Johanna Lindsey
• A Heart So Wild by Johanna Lindsey
• Silken Savage by Catherine Hart
• While Passion Sleeps by Shirlee Busbee
• Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers
• Branded Hearts by Heather Graham (Pozzessere)
• The Bequest by Candice Proctor
• No Other Man, No Other Woman and No Other Love, trilogy by Shannon Drake
I don't see any books by Rosanne Bittner on your list. She is my all-time favorite. Have you read her books? "Thunder on the Plains" and her series "Savage Destiny" are books that I go back to when I want well-developed characters and a great story line.
ReplyDeleteHello Anonymous... No, I haven't read Rosanne Bittner but I'm putting her on my to read list. I'm pretty stacked up with requests and books for June, which is my Best Western month but I'll see what I can do. thanks for the recommendations!
DeleteRosanne Bittner is the best writer of western romance that I have had the pleasure of reading. None of the other authors even come close. Her Savage Destiny series books 1-7 are wonderful. Ms Brittner should receive more recognization than she does. If anyone can tell me of an author that they think even comes close to Ms Bittner, please suggest them to me.
DeleteThanks for the great endorsement. I'll put her on the to read list for June!
DeleteI could not agree more. I've read thousands of western romance books and I, too, always go back to Rosanne Bittner if I'm looking for a well-written book. The stories are always exciting and the characters are always well-developed solid human beings. One of her best features if showing complete, devoted love between two characters as well as among extended family. The sacrifices they make for one another are extraordinary. My favorite of her books are mentioned above: "Thunder on the Plains" and the "Savage Destiny" series. There is a character in that series named "Zeke." I dare you to read that series and NOT continue to think about him for years to come.
DeleteIf you have not read any of her books, I highly recommend that you try one. It doesn't really matter which one you choose...they are all good. But, if you want to be truly impressed grab one of those that we mentioned above.
Enjoy!
Just call me "Anonymous 2."
Annonymous, I note you are looking at an old version of my list. There is a newer one dated in June 2014. I will update it again this June when I turn to westerns. On my to read shelf for that month is Thunder on the Plains!
DeleteHi Reagen, The photo you have above was once on an inner cover of a western historical romance novel I used to own but can not remember the title of so I can hopefully repurchase it. I checked all the books on the above list but it wasn't among them. The story was about an Italian immigrant woman whose name was Rosa who moved west and opened up a restaurant and the local lawman falls in love with her. Can you tell me where you pulled the image from? Any information you can offer would be most appreciated.
ReplyDeletehttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mbOWBF1Ryg0/T-Jt-I6EmkI/AAAAAAAAAiM/R3KPux6IpOo/s1600/western%2Bromance.jpg
I'm sorry, Irena. I can't recall where I got the image. I didn't have the book and may not have even had the cover and the story doesn't sound familiar.
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