Clean Romances discussion

Hello all!

I'm new to this community, so a warm hello everyone! I love clean romance novels so decided to join in!

Welcome, Milene!

Hi there!

Welcome, Milene!

You've joined a very friendly, welcoming forum. Hope you enjoy it here, and find good books to read.

thanks everyone!

Hello and welcome, Milene (I'm new too!)

I didn't get to welcome you, Helen. So, welcome, and I hope you enjoy this forum.

Thank you, Groovy!

Hey! I'm as new as a newborn newbie. I lurk but rarely post. Welcome, Milene!

Milene wrote: "Hello all!

I'm new to this community, so a warm hello everyone! I love clean romance novels so decided to join in!"

Hi Everyone.

I'm Cathy Spencer and I write regency and contemporary romance. My regency would certainly qualify as a "clean" romance, but I'm not sure about the contemporary romance, so I wonder what the boundaries are? For example, my contemporary heroine has a sympathetic heart but terrible taste in men. After a six-year relationship, she gets dumped on Valentine's Day. Her friends decide that she needs a dating do-over, so they set up dates with a couple of men. There is description of kissing and a little fooling around, but no explicit sex scenes. Does it qualify? It's called The Dating Do-Over.



The regency is called The Affairs of Harriet Walters, Spinster, but "affairs" is used in the sense of "adventures" or "business" rather than love affairs. It's categorized as a "sweet" regency.

Hi Cathy, I'm new to the group too, so not sure if I'm qualified to answer your question but ... Even though my publisher will only publish clean reads, my romance Warm Hearts in Winter does have some kissing scenes and a heated clinch or two but stops well short of sex. I've read plenty of other clean romances with the same. I think you're bound to have some 'attraction' in a romance. Not sure what others think?

Cathy, I've found that everyone seems to have a different idea on what constitutes a 'clean' romance. This site indicates that anything that would receive above a PG rating in a movie is not considered clean. For myself, I prefer fade-to-black if it goes much further than passionate kissing. It depends on how far your fooling around scenes go and on the person who's reading it. :-)

Hi there, I'm Louise and just wanted to say hello and browse through for new writers. look forward to chatting to you all.
Thanks

Hi, Louise, take a look at the resources under “Bookshelf.”

Hello Louise and welcome. I'm sure you'll find loads of great books, writers and readers here!

Hi, Louise!

Hi, I just joined this group today and though I initiated my own "Hello everyone, really happy to be here! :-)" discussion thread, but felt like greeting everyone individually too! 

Well, looking forward to great recommendations and wonderful friendships :-)

Thanks and Happy Reading! :-)
--Ramla Zareen 

Hey there!

Joy wrote: "Hey there!"

Hi Joy, just checked out your Romantic Comedy shelf and discovered some new authors, thanks :-) Noticed some books by Jennifer Cruise as well. I have read few books by her and I enjoyed them. Have you read anything by Sophie Kinsella? I highly recommend Twenties Girl It's funny, romantic and clean! :-)

I've not read anything by Sophie Kinsela. I may one day. I tend to read things by writers who use American English. That probably seems parochial. It may be parochial. I'm more familiar with places in the U.S. I'm weird that way.

I've only read a couple books by Jennifer Crusie that I didn't care for. I like her sense of humor and the characters, their foibles, and the plots of her books. She is an academic which I find interesting since she like me did not start out immediately attracted to the romance genre.

Joy wrote: "I've not read anything by Sophie Kinsela. I may one day. I tend to read things by writers who use American English. That probably seems parochial. It may be parochial. I'm more familiar with places..."

Well Joy, everyone is entitled to their own preferences regarding books, so it's ok with me if you are more comfortable with authors who use American English. I myself am quite flexible on this point. Plus I read a wide variety of genres, though my favourites are "Golden-Age" and "Cozy" Mystery, with "Historical Romance" following close behind. I also very much enjoy "Contemporary Romance", "RomCom/Chick-Lit" and "Classic RomCom". Anyway, looking forward to interacting with you in the various discussions :-)

hello! just came to this group and i lovelovelove romance---but only if its clean! if you are looking for clean romance and fantasy, check out my shelf clean fantasy 3 (if you're wondering why there's a 3 at the end, i tried to put a heart, but the greater-than sign didn't show up!) its mostly young adult and middle grade, but i think they're good for anyone!

Magda wrote: "hello! just came to this group and i lovelovelove romance---but only if its clean! if you are looking for clean romance and fantasy, check out my shelf clean fantasy 3 (if you're wondering why ther..."

Hi Magda, I also joined this group today :-) Will check out your bookshelf, thanks!

I used to read mostly "romantic suspense", mysteries and "murder books" but that fare became a little too dark for me over time. I switched to contemporary romance and romantic comedy to avoid the dark and dreary. I'm on disability and already know life isn't a barrel of laughs but prefer laughter to scary thoughts. It's just me. I don't necessarily believe one genre is better than another. Reading books is similar to music or appreciation of any art form - Subjective.

Joy wrote: "I used to read mostly "romantic suspense", mysteries and "murder books" but that fare became a little too dark for me over time...

I feel the same way, that's why I love Cozy Mysteries :-) They are light, humorous, with the main focus on the detection process and on the characters who solve the crimes. There is no graphic violence and the tragic implications of death are avoided.

Joy also wrote: I don't necessarily believe one genre is better than another. Reading books is similar to music or appreciation of any art form - Subjective. "

Totally agree :-)