Urbandictionary.com labels a guilty pleasure as: to describe a certain substance or activity a person enjoys, and often practices, while said person morally believed or is informed that the substance or activity is abnormal, improper or incorrect, or in other words- something you love doing but cannot admit that you do.( http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=guilty%20pleasure) We all have our guilty pleasures that we do in the secrecy of our flats and heaven forbid if others were to find out about them then* gasp*. I, as a natural well-rounded reader, have my own literary guilty pleasures that I intended to keep to the confides of my flat but no more, now it is time to share them with the world!
So as my first blog post about my literary guilty pleasures I only thought it was appropriate to talk about my favorite romance novel author, Julia Quinn. If you have read this blog from the beginning, which I hope you have, then you will see the number of books that usually strike my fancy. They are a range of Jane Austen type books, historical fiction, mainstream fiction, and the occasional love story or science fiction, but have never really mentioned romance novels. I did come out about it a few weeks ago when telling the story about my book club, here is the link:
https://acomfychair.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/the-story-behind-the-name-the-95er%e2%80%99s/
So continuing on that theme I need to come out with a confession: I LIKE ROMANCE NOVELS!! There I feel better, now on with Julia. I randomly stumbled upon Julia one day while wandering through the shelves of my local book store. Unable to find anything to read and growing more irritated by the minute I almost gave up hope then a cute little pink book with the title The Duke and I caught my attention. It didn’t look like a romance novel but some type of chic lit taking place in the Regency English period. I bought the book, read it in one day and haven’t looked back since. I own and have read the majority of her novels, each one different from the other and they are all very good. She is not your typical romance author that her books are not laced with sexual scenes and do not have Fabio on the over with an open shirt but more about the relationship between the two characters and how it develops as the book progresses. Of course there are a few saucy scenes to get the blood pumping and a smile to spread across your face but not as many as some other books, thank goodness. There are twists and turns, unexpected visitors and shocks that could satisfy any reader that would pick up any of her novels. The way she writes is poetic; with the fluid of the words gliding across the pages as your eyes dance over them. I am instantly captivated by her and her novels; they are my ultimate guilty pleasure. It is the perfect break between all the other books that I read and it is always nice to read something light-hearted, funny and sparks the inner romantic in us all. One of her books paired with your favorite bar of chocolate (Cadbury’s Chocolate with Carmel straight from the freezer) will put any girl as ease with whatever she is facing. So if you are curious about romance novels but are scared from all the covers, I would pick up Julia Quinn. You will thank me later! Here are her books, based on their series, in order of how you should read them:
The Bevelstoke Series:
– The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever
– What Happens in London
– Ten Things I love about You
The Two Dukes of Wyndham
– The Lost Duke of Wyndham
– Mr. Cavendish, I Presume
The Bridgertons
– The Duke and I
– The Viscount who Loved Me
– An Offer from a Gentleman
– Romancing Mister Bridgerton
– To Sir Phillip with Love
– When He was Wicked
– It’s in His Kiss
– On the Way to the Wedding
Agents of the Crown
– To Catch and Heiress
– How to Marry a Marquis
The Lyndon Sisters
– Everything and the Moon
– Brighter than the Sun
The Splendid Trilogy
– Splendid
– Dancing at Midnight
– Minx
Her books are in sequences and small collections; I did not know this and read them out-of-order. Which is fine you do not have to read them in order, each story is unique but you may miss some little details from their sister novels. Below I have put a link to her website, and she is also on Facebook! So make sure to check her out, maybe she may become your guilty pleasure as she is mine:
A Comfy Chair in the Corner 
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