Resolved Gift for a friend

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by Emoral, Mar 23, 2019.

  1. Emoral

    Emoral Well-Known Member

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    Do you guys know any published books that are dramatic with a hint of comedy, a romance subplot, complete with a strong and confident protagonist? The tone should be hopeful, and the love interest's personality should be compatible with the protagonist. They don't have a favorite author. The genre could be anything, but not over 18+. I think this not 18+ is like mentioning it, but not going into it with details.

    Recently they read Expiration Date from Wattpad by MikaelaBender, so that's a reference. According to their words, it has a strong beginning but becomes quite lacking near the end.

    Thank you in advance~~
     
  2. Elizabrush

    Elizabrush Active Member

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    Some questions: Does your friend have a preference for male vs female protagonists? And what do you mean by dramatic? Are we talking like ansty stuff, or big explosions or....? Do they have a preference for happy endings? Is the 18+ restriction strictly on sex scenes or do they also want to avoid violence/gore?
     
  3. c3ltic

    c3ltic . . .

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    I haven't read the wattpad story, sorry. But here are some of my favorite authors (female MC):

    Urban Fantasy
    Patricia Briggs
    Illona Andrews (mild 18+ in later novels but only with committed couples)
    C.E. Murphy
    Faith Hunter (can't remember the love interest right now)

    Fantasy
    Michelle Sagara
    Anne Bishop
    Jacqueline Carrey (18+, the world building is among the best I have ever read. I don't remember many explicit sexual scenes but they were outside the norm--more BDSM-ish. However, the entire country was more sexually accepting. It's hard to describe.)

    I'm sure I can think of more if you can be more specific on what they are looking for.

    EDIT
    Hopeful as in religious? Or just positive.
     
  4. Emoral

    Emoral Well-Known Member

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    I think she prefers female characters, but if the story is good wouldn't mind male protagonist either. Dramatic as in ansty. I don't think she has a preference for ending. 18+ restriction on all.

    Positive, light at the end of the tunnel. Hopeful like The Promised Neverland. Thank you for the recommendations.
     
  5. c3ltic

    c3ltic . . .

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    Then all of those recommendations apply. If you want more or more specific on those authors let me know. I read everyday, almost constantly right now and can easily go through 2-3 books a day if not more depending on their length. I read anything interesting really do I have a variety I can recommend.
     
  6. SerialBeggar

    SerialBeggar Hate your family? Got no friends? Gimme your stuff

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    I don't read romance novels, but if I had to name an author, I'd suggest Jean Johnson. She's got quite a few romance series in print with the usual bare-chested men on the covers. But I didn't know about any of them and still haven't read any.

    One of her other books I did read was The Tower. And I guess I wasn't paying much attention as I see this book was the first of a series now. Anyway, it may suit what you're looking for. This novel is a (mild) comedic fantasy with a romantic subplot and one off-camera (I think, it's been a while) sexual event. I rate this novel as OK. It's low calorie, but fine as a time killer.

    My real recommendation is:
    I came to know this author when a set of intriguing cover art of a military sci-fi series caught my eye: Theirs Not to Reason Why. Yes, military sci-fi. It turned out she wanted to take a stab at a totally different genre to take a break from romance. This series is EXCELLENT! No romance, though. It has a confident female MC who knows what she needs to do
    she's a precog, she can see all the possibilities
    and will not let anyone stand in her way because otherwise
    the galaxy will die.
    A very intricate tale is woven over the 5 books in the series, because
    the MC needs to influence via direct and indirect events so everything can line up for the best outcome.
    The MC's last scene in the series was emotionally powerful!
     
  7. Elizabrush

    Elizabrush Active Member

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    Hmm the 18+ restriction on all makes this a lil harder lol. It sounds like YA fiction might be better suited to your friend?

    Off the top of my head, some authors/books I can think of:
    • Pretty much anything by Tamora Pierce (but she's so popular your friend has probably come across one of her books)
    • Robin McKinley's Damar series, esp #1 which is my favorite of the 2 - Fantasy/adventure, has a mild...almost subtle romantic subplot that I find doesn't overpower the main plot, a very strong and confident female protagonist. Idk if I'd call this angsty though, the primary characters are what I'd call stoic
    • Seven Daughters and Seven Sons by Barbara Cohen - historical fiction, a strong/confident/prove-the-sexists-wrong female protag. The romance in this is slightly more than what I'd call a subplot since it dominates the latter half of the book but it's still not necessarily the main part of the story imo?? If your friend likes fairytales she might like this. This is probably harder to get ahold of though, it's not a popular novel.
    • The Night Calls series by Katharine Eliska Kimbriel - Amazing plot and worldbuilding, the romance is definitely a subplot but at the same time its definitely there. Fantasy, historical, great, strong female MC. There is some mild violence though, idk if I'd call it PG. But nothing graphic.
    • Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold - Bujold is TERRIFIC at writing great, believable characters. The female MC is strong and kind and one of my all-time-favorite heroines. I also love the male lead, they make a great, mature (as in not childish) couple. This is space opera-y sci-fi. I don't know if it's really that angsty but there were definitely parts that made me emo. I will note that this is written more for adults so there is more explicit discussion of violence and 18+ stuff.
    • The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery - Same author as Anne of Green Gable series so the prose might be a bit more old-fashioned. But this is a great, angsty read IMO. The romance is definitely not a subplot, it's more like the main plot lmao, idk if that's a dealbreaker? Also the female protag doesn't start off as strong and confident but the premise is that she's a former doormat going wild so she's pretty much strong and confident for the duration of the actual novel. Pretty much the whole thing is PG.
     
  8. Elizabrush

    Elizabrush Active Member

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    YO I LOVE THAT SERIES and keep telling myself I need to read the rest of it lol. NGL the MC is so Mary Sue it verges on edgy OP webnovel protag level but thats...kinda why I like it haha.
     
  9. SerialBeggar

    SerialBeggar Hate your family? Got no friends? Gimme your stuff

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    The MC did get a couple of "unplanned" good fortunes, but for the most part she has to make herself a Mary Sue because otherwise her plan doesn't work.
     
  10. Elizabrush

    Elizabrush Active Member

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    I mean the precog stuff is def a part of it but the "the fate of the whole universe is up to me" talk is what really gave me that vibe. I've only read up to the second book tbf and I know she looses her precog powers later in the series or smth?? So take my opinion with a grain of salt lol
     
  11. userunfriendly

    userunfriendly A Wild Userunfriendly Appears!

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    Bridge of Birds.(y)
     
  12. SerialBeggar

    SerialBeggar Hate your family? Got no friends? Gimme your stuff

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    No, she never loses her precog. She only has precog issues with the one guy she likes, but can't spare the time to like.

    As to why she's hung up about doing everything her way and why things work out for her:
    She tells her friends later on that when she said she can see all the probabilities, she really means ALL the probabilities. There's no time in her precog space, so she had looked into every probability. She followed every time line from EACH and EVERY probable branching decision or event (ie from high probability it could happen to the most negligible probability it might happen, she checked them all) whether she was involved or not, all the way to whether the galaxy dies or not. She had already planned out the next 300 years, so there isn't much leeway for divergence.
     
  13. Elizabrush

    Elizabrush Active Member

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    Wait yeah do you remember what was the deal with her being unable to predict anything about that guy? Like was there any particular reason? Tbh I should prob go read the books instead of mooching off you but I've been swamped with work lately ;__;
     
  14. Tea Fragrance

    Tea Fragrance Well-Known Member

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    Rachel Aaron's Heartstrikers series is really good. It's an urban fantasy about this dragon who gets picked on cause he's nice (sounds lame but I swear it's not). He's not super confident at the start but does sticks to what he believes in and eventually proves to everyone that not everything needs to be solves the traditional dragon way. It's from a male POV but written by a female author. I felt very comfortable reading it. The first book works by itself thought there is an overarching plot that slowly spans the series. Her characters have depth and the world building is quite refreshing compared to what has been done in this genre. I love her Eli Monpress series and Paradox series as well.
     
  15. SerialBeggar

    SerialBeggar Hate your family? Got no friends? Gimme your stuff

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    I can't remember the exact detail, but I vaguely recall it was something along that lines that he was like node of chaos because he's such an emotional gravity well to her. She can never know if her decision was subconsciously favoring him or if she was overcompensating to purposely not to favor him.