jenn- Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Suggestions needed to keep her away from mommy's not so gentle stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Georgette Heyer! If she is into Regency romances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Any of the Amish series or books tend to be fine. One of my girls probably read every single one of them at 12. She has some pretty strict ideas about dating/relationships; I wonder if this is where that came from! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Anne of Green Gables? :drool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Grace Livingston Hill...although most of the ones I know have CC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Mrs. Mike http://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Mike-Benedict-Freedman-ebook/dp/B00FY5YB4C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1391165228&sr=8-2&keywords=mrs.+mike Janette Oke http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_sabc?url=search-alias%3Daps&pageMinusResults=1&suo=1391165329015#/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_13?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=simple%20amish%20christmas&sprefix=simple+amish+%2Caps%2C176&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Asimple%20amish%20christmas But good luck keeping her away. I read the gentle stuff when my mom was looking, and read her not so gentle stuff when she wasn't. I figured if it was interesting enough to keep on the shelf, it was well worth checking out. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendy not in HI Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Has she read the Goose Girl and other books by Shannon Hale? Each of her books has a sweet romance. T he Matched series by Ally Condie is cute. The Fallen series by Lauren Kate was a big hit with my 15 year old, but the theology was a little wacky for me. Basically anything YA seems to have a romance going through it... I felt like the making out in Divergent was too heavy for my 12 year old to read. My 15 yo and I recently read and enjoyed the Legend series.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSOchristie Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I just finished reading the Fallen Series, and the Embrace Series by Jessica Shirvington. I read both series in two weeks (basically one book per night, like I didn't have anything else to do :lol: ), so they are definitely attention holders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I like Shannon Hale. If she likes fairy tale rewrites, Jessica Day George has several with gentle romance (that isn't the sole focus). If you don't mind Christian content, I liked Julie Klassen and Melanie Dickerson. Both have romance, but were "clean" and had a story line of something that needed to be overcome or accomplished. Is she up to Jane Austen? P&P, S&S, Emma, Persuasion (my fave!) are all romantic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Mary Stewart's romance novels are very clean. Some titles to start with - Airs Above the Ground, The Moon-Spinners, Nine Coaches Waiting. And I'll second Jane Austen, if she hasn't read those already. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
applethyme Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Try a used book sale to find the old harlequins. The ones from the 50's and 60's and evens some into the 70's and 80's are all pretty tame. Also harlequin has several lines now and some are less racy than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I like Shannon Hale. If she likes fairy tale rewrites, Jessica Day George has several with gentle romance (that isn't the sole focus). If you don't mind Christian content, I liked Julie Klassen and Melanie Dickerson. Both have romance, but were "clean" and had a story line of something that needed to be overcome or accomplished. Is she up to Jane Austen? P&P, S&S, Emma, Persuasion (my fave!) are all romantic. Jane Austen is an excellent idea. Then, y'all can watch the movies together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Beverly Cleary's Fifteen (yes, the author of the Ramona books). You can't get much more sweet and innocent.I try not to have any books in the house I wouldn't want children reading. If they want to, they will find a way! (I speak from my own experience.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeghanL Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I *loved* the Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn when I was a teen. My sister & I would talk about them and my mom thought we were talking about kids we went to school with! Yeah, it was kind of sad. There is quiet a bit of Christian content, which I'm usually opposed to, but in these books it wasn't preachy at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Mary Stewart is great. Dd loves those. Another thing to do is start a Goodreads account. It gives suggestions from what others have read and seems to judge dd 's taste pretty well. She has only been using this for a year and her suggested books frequently contain some that she has already enjoyed. It recommends old books too not just current popular ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Gwen Bristow's Jubilee Trail and Calico Palace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Jenny B. Jones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 Thanks for all the suggestions. This all came up when I found her out of bed (2 hours after she was supposed to be asleep) reading a book that would not not have approved at any hour much less with the sneaking around aspect of it. I figure it would be better to see if she likes something more appropriate to read during daylight hours. Right now she still has an assigned novel she isn't through (online academy), so that is priority. Keep the suggestions coming. The local library is tiny, but I just discovered a huge use bookstore I can haul her off to in a couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann.without.an.e Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 My girls loved and treasured the following. They are written for younger and are usually found in the YA or children's section. They are good stories that have romance sprinkled in. This way, you are avoiding all the fluff that comes with purely romantic titles. Shannon Hale Jessica Day George Gail Carson Levine (all of the above have many titles) E.D. Baker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 But good luck keeping her away. I read the gentle stuff when my mom was looking, and read her not so gentle stuff when she wasn't. I figured if it was interesting enough to keep on the shelf, it was well worth checking out. :rolleyes: Same here. It wasn't the romance aspect of Mom's romances that drew me to sneak them off the shelf and read them on the sly. It was the bodice-ripper aspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 How about steer her toward the classics that double as romances, like Jane Austin novels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 If you can steer her towards another genre geared towards teens that may have male/female relationships in it, that might be better. A bit of romance, but not the sole focus. Dystopian literature is well known for this. Various Sci-Fi books are also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Colleen Coble's books. Usually the central story is a mystery, the sideline is some kind of romance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 If you can steer her towards another genre geared towards teens that may have male/female relationships in it, that might be better. A bit of romance, but not the sole focus. Dystopian literature is well known for this. Various Sci-Fi books are also. This is what she is usually into reading. I don't know where she suddenly decided she wanted a romance novel. I think she just wanted to grab a mom book and read it. She claims she had already tried reading one but found it boring and stopped so she was trying a different one. I found the first of the Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn on our digital library and checked it out. If she puts a good faith effort into reading her assigned book, I will let her take her Kindle to Grandma's house this weekend and she can try it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 If she'd like something more contemporary, then Anna and the French Kiss or Lola and the Boy Next Door are YA books that's pretty tame. Eleanor and Park just got a Printz honor and it's definitely a sort of brainy YA romance. Dash and Lily's Book of Dares and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist are also sort of brainy YA romance. Sarah Dessen has a ton of YA books that have a romance element to them. Some of the John Green books could be called romance. Paper Towns in a lighter option than the cancer romance or the suicide romance ones. Romance is sort of big in YA right now. There are a bunch of YA romance authors I haven't read - like Gayle Foreman. However, if it's YA, you can trust it won't be racy or overly graphic, though there may be s*x. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildcat Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 This may be odd, but if you are talking actual 'romance' books with scenes with bodices being ripped off, maybe you can try the Christian versions? I didn't know where was such a thing as "Christian Romance", and I accidentally picked one up at a used book store. It had all the romance without the s3x. I'm not Christian, but I enjoyed the book. 'Course, I went back to my regular romance books after that.... :lol: I agree with a pp in that if your stuff is in the house, your dd will likely want to read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerico Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I *loved* the Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn when I was a teen. My sister & I would talk about them and my mom thought we were talking about kids we went to school with! Yeah, it was kind of sad. There is quiet a bit of Christian content, which I'm usually opposed to, but in these books it wasn't preachy at all. I was obsessed with these. I think i kept them until I got married. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Jenny B. Jones At first pass I read this as Junie B. Jones. You know, this one. I think this illustration says it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 At first pass I read this as Junie B. Jones. You know, this one. I think this illustration says it all. I almost put "(not Junie)" after the name. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Enthusiasm is a fun, romantic read for teens girls. My daughter just read it and seemed to enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venia Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Definitely anything by Jane Austen. One I didn't see mentioned is "Christy" by Catherine Marshall. Its more of a historical fiction, but the romance aspect of it was very wholesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma2three Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I got some MC Beaton/Marian Chesney romance novels for Christmas, and they are lots of fun and TOTALLY chaste. They're all pretty much the same, but I guess all romance novels are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I was kidding. :) Still, it was a horrible book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wordsmith Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 *evil grin* 50 shades of grey and its sequels :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Tangentially: I ruined my life when I read Flowers in the Attic when I was a young. As I was minding my own business sitting around watching cable, a commercial popped up-- they made that horror show into a TV movie. I basically had a panic attack. My dd said, "What is wrong with you?" I literally cried, "That is the worst book ever written!" "It's a book?" Oh, man, I wish I had played it cool and just flipped the channel. I am now afraid my reaction made her curious to enough to go hunting around the library for it. Libraries don't carry that book anymore, right? Right? I am wondering how many young lives have been ruined by poorly hidden copies of Shades of Gray? (Which I did not read, mostly because of the book I mentioned above.) I have read many V.C. Andrews books; I have not read Shades of Gray, but have read enough about it. How in the world are you connecting the two? Entirely different genres. V.C. Andrews is very American Gothic. Shades of Gray is erotica. (the tv movie was horrible compared to the book...though you might find it blander and more acceptable compared to the book) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Tamora Pierce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Tangentially: I ruined my life when I read Flowers in the Attic when I was a young. As I was minding my own business sitting around watching cable, a commercial popped up-- they made that horror show into a TV movie. I basically had a panic attack. My dd said, "What is wrong with you?" I literally cried, "That is the worst book ever written!" "It's a book?" Oh, man, I wish I had played it cool and just flipped the channel. I am now afraid my reaction made her curious to enough to go hunting around the library for it. Libraries don't carry that book anymore, right? Right? I am wondering how many young lives have been ruined by poorly hidden copies of Shades of Gray? (Which I did not read, mostly because of the book I mentioned above.) My oldest dd heard so much about the Shades books that she downloaded them for free on her iPod. She was in tears telling me about it and says she wishes she could erase it all from her mind. She comes to me now to help research a book if seems to even have a hint of romance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I think ruined is a rather strong word. Lives are not ruined by poorly written or explicit books. ETA: Library Lover, of course you are joking and I am being my usually dense over serious self. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 My tongue was firmly in my cheek. :) ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttichen Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 My 15-year-old dd is into Karen Kingsbury these days. They're Christian, not terribly well written, and as sappy as can be, but they're nice clean romances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Daddy-Long-legs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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