Newbie Romance Reader - Recs?

If you're ok with m/m romance, my own Shuttered is on the sweet side rather than erotic, but doesn't 'fade to black'. Also, it has fantastical elements (spirits, telepathy, possession) so it might ease you into the romance genre gently!

ETA: I'd also recommend Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin, published in the 50s.

There are a lot of series in romance. Everything I'm going to rec is part of a series. But in most romance series (including all the ones here), each book is a separate couple. You don't need to read more than the one book to get their full romance, and you can often read out of order without a problem. I don't read fantasy romance, so I can't help you there!

Historical:
Lisa Kleypas: Secrets of a Summer Night (and the rest of the Wallflower series)
Tessa Dare: Romancing the Duke
Courtney Milan: The Duchess War (though my favourite in the series is The Heiress Effect)

Contemporary
Julie James: It Happened One Wedding (or anything she's written)
Courtney Milan: Trade Me, Hold Me
Lauren Layne: After the Kiss, Love the One You're With
Victoria Dahl: Taking the Heat
Kristan Higgins: All I Ever Wanted (this is the first romance novel that I liked)

One book that gets recommended over and over as a "starter romance" is Jennifer Crusie's Bet Me. Thus, it was the first romance I ever read. Unfortunately, I didn't like it...but a lot of people do.

I love Amanda Quick's romance books.
Also Jayne Ann Krentz.

Who happen to be the same person, but who's counting?

I love Nora Roberts and yes, Jayne Ann Krentz is great too.

I also recommend Viola Grace. She writes a lot of fantasy/sci fi romances. I read Shattered Stars a while ago and it's really, really good. Lots of erotica in it though... It may not be for everyone.

For sweet-ish historical, I'd recommend Mary Balogh. Many of her books are series, but are also good as stand-alone. One of my favorites is Slightly Dangerous.

Also historical: anything by Loretta Chase (my favorite is Dukes Prefer Blondes, which I believe is also her most recent). And anything by Joanna Bourne will knock your socks off.

So many great suggestions already. I would also include Jill Shalvis' Lucky Harbor series (my personal favorite was Lucky in Love) and Shannon Stacey's Kowalski series (Yours to Keep) in contemporary romance. And in historical, Lisa Kleypas, Tessa Dare, Julia Quinn, Sarah MacLean, Lorraine Heath, Elizabeth Hoyt, Madeline Hunter... I could go on. lol Historical romances are my crack.

My personal faves: Susanna Kearsley (sweet/historical/paranormal), particularly THE SHADOWY HORSES; Catherine Anderson if you like spicy/angsty; Blythe Gifford if you like spicy/straight historical; Marilyn Brandt if you like fun contemporary that's not over-the-top; Lisa Wingate if you're into Southern-set inspirational romance.

I can't make any recommendations regarding non-M/F or urban fantasy or romantic suspense because I don't read in those genres.

I mostly read historicals (which is what I write), and I could give you a long list of books I like and admire, but if you want to explore different subgenera, you might take a look at the past RITA winners and finalists. That way you can see what has garnered praise. You may not love them all, but you can be pretty sure those books aren't dreck. *G*

RITA winners for this year are being announced today, so keep an eye on these as well.

I like sc Stephens and Diana galbaldon

"A Rose In Winter" by Kathleen Woodiwiss

I'm sitting here re-reading Liz Carlyle's superb A Woman Scorned for the umpteenth time (probably the 15th time, actually) I realized that I forgot to include it in my recommendations above. Wonderful historical romance with a fair amount of suspense.

I'm reading Family Tree by Susan Wiggs right now, I grabbed it randomly from CVS after not being drawn to any of the other options. I'm not a "bare chest and six pack on the cover" type. I love the "returns home and runs into old boyfriend" plot which is what this is. I am really enjoying the story and it is very entertaining and well written. I have not been bored yet.

Hi there! And welcome to romance. I made the same transition you did, from fantasy/YA into romance. A lot of mainstream romance still doesn't interest me too much for whatever reason, though I'm a huge fan of m/m romance (if you are interested in this genre, read Him). Even if you don't care about hockey and/or know nothing about it.

Here were the mainstream romance game-changers for me personally. I know you said no series, but alas, that just seems to be the thing in paranormal romance.

Immortals After Dark Series by Kresley Cole - Fun characters, laugh-out-loud humor, every kind of paranormal creature you can imagine, and hot sex scenes without slipping over into erotica
Psi/Changling Series by Nalini Singh - Pretty good world-building and an interesting plot that ties the whole series together nicely. A lot of people also love her Guild Hunter series.

Best of luck finding something that appeals!

I love Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. The romance is broken up by great plots with high tensions and sometimes good action scenes. She tends to write the tortures hero who needs to be healed by the heroine, but it's actually done pretty well.