Recommends for 40+ heroines

maggie b. · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 2263

I think I've read one too many books with a teenage heroine. Confused

Anybody got recs for a romance with "older" heroines?

maggie b.

Tinabelle · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 853 Location: SE Wisconsin

Off the top of my head, the book that pops into mind is Black Rose by Nora Roberts. It is book #2 of the In the Garden Trilogy. The heroine is Rosalind Harper, age 47, with grown children and a successful business. And the hero is in the same age bracket - no May-December romance here! Theirs is a rich and very satisfying love story of 2 people who never thought they would find love again.

Roz also figures very prominently in the other 2 books in the series - Blue Dahlia (#1) and Red Lily (#3). You could probably read the book as a stand-alone, but there is a continuing story that runs through all of the books; you would miss a lot if you didn't read all 3. You get more of Rosalind and her "hero" Dr. Mitchell Carnegie in the other books, too. I really enjoyed the series and the friendship between the 3 women in the stories is wonderful.
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Natalie · Joined: 25 Mar 2007 Posts: 1566

I think the latest by Robine Schone featured mature folks.

Yulie · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 1053 Location: Elsewhere

In Crusie's Fast Women the heroine is 42, I think.

melann · Joined: 28 Apr 2007 Posts: 85

Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie - The book opens on or immediately before Nina's 40th birthday (it's also a really good book). Crusie also has other books that that feature women in their mid-late 30s or older.

xina · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 6630 Location: minneapolis

Something Shady by Pamela Morsi. And the Lucy Hatch series by Marsha Moyer...both Ash and Lucy are in their mid-late 30's in the first book and older as the books progress. Doesn't Mary Balogh have a few books with older heroines?

angelika · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 10:46 am Post subject: Heroine 40 +

"Scandalous Lovers" by Robin Schone, heroine is 49 and her "Man and Woman" an anthology in"Facinated",heroine is 51. In "The Lover" and "Gabriel's Woman" both heroines are in their 30th.

Niftybergin · Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 1067

Lavyrle Spencer has several titles. In Family Blessings, the heroine is well into her 40s and falls in love with her son's best friend (after the son is killed). The best friend is older than the son was though. Lee is 45 and Chris (the hero) is 30.

Another is Bygones, also by LS. That one's about a divorced couple with almost-grown children. Their daughter is getting married and keeps throwing her parents back together, and the parents start to fall in love with each other again.

Those are the two that spring to mind, but I know she has others that feature an older heroine.

Of course, there's the Outlander series. Claire is 27 or so in the first book, but by the time the third book starts, she's 50. Books 3, 4, 5, and 6 take her from age 50 to 60.

MrsFairfax · Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 1067

Jeanne Ray's books Julie and Romeo and Julie and Romeo Get Lucky have a 50+ couple.

Trish B · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 1119 Location: Mid-Atlantic, USA

Cindy Gerard's Under the Wire is a contemp/action/suspense with a 40ish heroine and a hero who is ten years her junior.

A little obscure, but It Happened in Florence by Erin Aislinn is a nice second chance at love story with both h/h 40-ish. This one may be hard to find, but I got it from Amazon a few years ago and I liked it quite a bit. It's also a contemporary.

I will second (third?) the rec of Robin Schone who rarely (if ever?) writes about characters under 30/40 it seems to me.

JaneO · Joined: 17 Feb 2008 Posts: 755

I'm not sure precisely how old they are, but the heroines of Candice Hern's Merry Widow series are all both widows and adults. In the Thrill of the Night, Lady Be Bad, and I forget the name of the other.
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Susan/DC · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 1602

Jeanne Ray's Step, Ball, Change isn't exactly a romance, but it's a wonderful book. The main character is older and has a lovely relationship with her husband, but there are also her son and daughter and their romances, as well as one for her recently-separated sister. Despite the fairly large cast of characters, I never felt that any of them were short-changed or that the book was overcrowded. The book is a warm and loving view of all kinds of love and conflict: romantic, sibling, parent/child and is full of insight and low key humor -- I highly recommend it.

LeeB. · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 1226 Location: Seattle, WA

Second recommendation for Lavyrle Spencer's "Family Blessings."

A lot of the Harlequin Next books featured older heroines; maybe you can find some of the books at a used bookstore.
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NoirFemme · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 1402 Location: America

The Affair by Sandy Hingston. Really funny and sweet.

Rosie · Joined: 01 Apr 2007 Posts: 279

Hot Wheels and High Heels by Jane Graves

The heroine's 40th birthday takes place during the book, and her hero is 42, I believe.