AAR

[Salaisuus]

I had no idea what to search for to see if this has been asked before.

I have read and enjoyed plenty of romances that did have kids as a main character in them, but it's not what I prefer.

Does anyone have any recommendations for favorite romances that are kid-free? Or a previous thread that addresses this? I had no idea what search terms to use since there are so many possibilities (kid free, kid-free, no kids, no children, child-free, etc.).

I will read any genre. Thanks in advance. :)

[ladynaava]

Its kind of hard to say which stories have rugrats in them and which will not. I tend to see paranomrals and urban fantasy not having too many kids at least initially, but its a crapshoot.

I think avoiding the harlquin type category stories is probably best, as I've noticied those tend to have more children...

[xina]

[Salaisuus]

I just meant the main story and main characters do not have kids in the main part of the book.

I do know which HQN lines to avoid.

I have noticed a lot of the ones with military characters usually do not have kinds until the epilogue (that's fine).

As a kid-free person, I am feeling a little tired of all the kids in the romances I have run into lately. I guess I just happened to get a bunch from the library that had them. Linda Lael Miller comes to mind.

I do love the paranormal stuff and at least in those the kids sometimes turn into something interesting, like a wolf or whatever. ;)

[veasleyd1]

Are you asking about books in which there are no children at all? That is, not only should the H/h neither come into the relationship with children, have children during the book, nor produce children for an epilogue, but should also be without younger siblings, nieces and nephews, neighbors, etc.?

The first type regarding the H/h will be pretty easy to find; the second much more difficult.

[Nicole]

You should check out Jennifer Cruise. Her books are great, and many of her books are kid free.
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She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain. -Louisa May Alcott

[Yulie]

[Linda in sw va]

[quote="Yulie"]

[Salaisuus]

I've tried Jennifer Crusie. She is not to my taste. I have tried and TRIED her books and they drive me nuts. Everyone raves about how funny she is and I read them and nothing is funny to me. I also hated the movie Bridesmaids so I am wondering if I am missing some essential girl humor gene here.

Lately I have run into a bunch of books with kids in them. The Kowalskis by Shannon Stacey. Anything recently by Linda Lael Miller. I've just started A Place Called Home by Jo Goodman. Everything I had on hold that came in at the library lately had a kid in it. I thought maybe I'd gather a few titles I could put on hold that don't have kids in them and balance that out a bit better.

Authors I don't like:
Jennifer Crusie
SEP

Authors I do like:
Jayne Krentz/Castle/Quick
Jennifer Ashley
JD Robb/Nora Roberts
Janet Evanovich
Maggie Osborne
Jo Goodman
Linda Lael Miller (of hers, I really prefer the ones with ghostly/time travel stuff but they are very few and far between lately)
Patricia Briggs
Nalini Singh
Christine Feehan
Elaine Levine
Thea Harrison
Jaci Burton
Jill Shalvis
Julie James
Kelley Armstrong
Maya Banks
Robin McKinley
Suzanne Brockmann
GA Aiken (the dragon books)
Charlaine Harris
Elizabeth Lowell
Shannon Hale
Linda LaRoque
Linda Howard
Eric McCarthy



You can safely assume I have already read(or have on my TBR shelf) most books by the authors I like.

I love time travel. I love western historicals. I really love western historical time travel. I like paranormals, especially with shapeshifters. Above all, I like for a book to have humor.

And, apparently, I do not find SEP or Crusie funny for whatever reason. I've tried. I have. And neither listening to audio nor reading on paper has been tolerable for me for those authors.

The only HQN books I read are the Blaze, and then only if by Jill Shalvis. I find they are just too short for my taste, and I read hers because I'm a huge fan of her writing. Even if they are too short, they will be reliable entertainment.

Thanks, everyone.

Edited to add Jaci Burton in my likes list.
Edited to add a few more to the likes list.

[xina]

The last book I read with a child in it was, Exposure by Susan Andersen. I read that last year, and haven't read a book with a child in it since then. My point is that there are many more books without children than with. You could probably just read reviews or a synopsis. Usually, the children are mentioned if they are in the book.
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"As you wish"
~The Princess Bride

[Salaisuus]

I guess I just had a weird run of them. It just seems like I can't even remember the last new book I read that did not have kids in it. It was driving me nuts. I was hoping to find some authors who typically don't write books with kids in them. Then I would not have to scour every synopsis when I see a book recommendation.

[Yulie]

So apparently we have almost opposite taste in books: I don't much like westerns, PNR, TT or contemps, and most of the authors you mentioned are in the not interested/never again category for me.

But I can think of one author who is not on your list, doesn't have kids in her books (that I can recall) and who might work for you: Victoria Dahl, specifically her contemps. And since you did mention some RS authors, maybe you could try Cindy Gerard or Pamela Clare (the epilogues are kid-heavy, but IIRC only Extreme Exposure has an actual kid in it).

Humor is too subjective for me to even try to make suggestions. I do find Crusie funny, but her books are too similar to one another for my liking.

[AngieMB]

Molly Harper writes mostly paranormals (vampires / werewolves) and they are hilarious. They don't feature kids in any of them.

Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series is another great paranormal series without kids.

For some great time travel books, try Karen Marie Moning's Highlander series. If you try her Fever series, there are teenagers in those that feature prominently, so I don't know if you would want that or not.

Also, most of Linda Howard's are kid free. There is an occasional one where the hero or heroine has a child/children, but I can only think of a couple, and she has a large backlist.

[Linda in sw va]

[Nicole]