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I LOVE THE OUTLANDER SERIES. I may not read much of the other romance stuff, but I love those books something fierce. I wish I were Scottish. They have sparked some truly nutty thoughts, I have to admit... But anyway.... I love how detailed, and how real it seems - no one is perfectly beautiful and clean (important since it's the 1700's!) unlike most of the other romances you'll read. I have to say I think they're miles above any other romance, and should just be in Fiction at this point.
I'm reading "The Time-Traveler's Wife" right now! It is really nicely written, and very engaging. Also recommended to me by a guy, so that was a nice change.
Generally, I like historicals best if I'm going to be reading romance. The modern ones are too boring, plot-wise. And yeah, with the historical ones - the woman is always Very Very Very Feisty and Independant. The better the banter is, the more I like it. That said, I can't think of any author y'all haven't mentioned already. Sorry!!