Didi

it's so official...I am obsessed. Someone dressed up a kid that is supposed to be the Gungun from pillow book (son of DH and FJ)....http://www.bestchinanews.com/Entertainment/9332.html

@Emily In the commentary at the end of pillow book I think she says that it is supposed to be a more serious, darker novel compared to Peach Blossom/Pillow Book (so I can't imagine what she has in mind bc both have their fair share of dark stuff)

.....I hate this hair style so much....

@krystalsoojungs is the novel you speaking of 'Legend of Concubine Lu Zhen' can you give a description?

@Emily can't say I am a big fan of susan Johnson I feel like I tried her once but wasn't blown away but I can always give someone a second chance. If you like romance + hot scenes + good story and dialogue then def. try Elizabeth Hoyt she won't disappoint. Always a HE, and the characters are well developed with depth (they aren't the stereotypical arrogant patronizing lead but neither are they weak in fact I would say they are deeply flawed with questionable morals...however they never hurt the heroine deliberately). What else do you read? Do you have a favorite time period?

@Emily you are the first person I have spoken to who knows of the glory (and tragedy) and hot scenes of Bertrice Small. What makes her even more awesome is that she is like this old lady know and still writing new novels. I used to be into McNaught and agree they are romantic but the writing feels dated to me. She is clever with her dialogue though.

@Emily I hope they don't use other actors I liked these two so much! Now that I said that they will most likely use other actors *sigh*

your welcome! I have a tendency to get sucked into things and right now I just can't get this fandom out of my head been quite a while since that happened

Your welcome no one in my circle reads romance in fact I get teased for it so I am always happy to share a bit of my prolific romance novel history

@whitesand All of the american romance novels basically have happy endings.
1. I would recommend Serpent Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt because it is well written with clever dialogue. The male lead is seeking revenge and though he doesn't want to falls in love with a regular girl (I think he is a viscount)(she's just some girl he meets who helps him/serious and nice). Very witty and casanova like personality on the outside, but underneath he is extremely ruthless. This novel takes place c.1700 so the Queen Anne Period (I like this best).
2. Hoyt has another novel I recommend, called Wicked Intentions, this time the male lead has long silver hair and is extremely cold and unfeeling (the hair is explained) The heroine is poor but no-nonsense. Clever dialogue. Neither novel has annoyingly arrogant male leads (which I would say McNaught's novels tend to fall in). She has a lot of novels and I like them because her characters' imperfections make you like them. She also tends to have prettier male leads, which I like and are similar to chinese novels in that regard
3. If you are into highlanders (which I'm not; these are the only ones I like), then Kresley Cole has a very good historical trilogy following three brothers who believe they are cursed to never have a happy ending. the first novel features the youngest brother and a spanish princess, the second novel is the middle brother (a sharp shooting assassin and his childhood friend/love interest) and the final is the best, about the eldest brother and a young girl who is extremely crafty but looks innocent/he is seeking revenge on her family.
4.What else...I would also encourage you to try Judith James's 'Libertine's Kiss' an extremely well written novel that takes place during the restoration monarch; the male lead is heavily based off of the earl of Rochester so naturally he is extremely beautiful and very sarcastic/witty.../casanova....his love interest is a girl he once met as a teen (so I guess she was a kid). as in Broken Wing, the novel explores themes of abuse suffered by the leads.
5.Finally, if you want something more erotic, I would suggest many of the novels by Beatrice Small these are classic erotic literature with strong female leads primarily in a harem/middle east setting overcoming a lot of political drama (often her heroines have at least two love interests, usually one dies and they find another). I think I liked Sky O'Malley (but that is a series), I liked Kaiden (stand alone), and Adora and these are love stories in spite of the harem aspect
6. If you want a classic bodice ripper (novels popular in the 70s with the heroine falling for a jerk who forces them into the relationship) try anything by kathleen woodwiss or catherine coulter
7. and if you are into some of the newer 'dark erotica' (these novels make 50 shades of grey look like something your grandma would read) try 'Twist Me' by Anne Zaires this is not for the faint of heart and is a classic example of stockholm syndrome.
8. Finally, if you want a supernatural romance that are sometimes funny, with a lot of mythology, try the Immortals After Dark Series. There are a lot of strong, kick ass women in these and her male leads range from wolves to vampires to demons and her female leads range from witches, to Valkyrie, to enchantress (Phew!) I have read a lot of American romance novels. These all have HE, although the Bertrice Small novels are arguably more on the sad side.

and for anyone interested here are a list of 'specials' scroll to link bottom and there are specials the author wrote i.e. mini dialogues involving characters from Eternal Love and its Sequel https://hui3r.wordpress.com/about/

ok so I just read that the rights to the pillow book were purchased by the woman who played the 10th prince's wife in Scarlet Heart: https://hui3r.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/adapting-novels-to-dramas/ this person is not the same person who owns the right to eternal love. This is all I could dig up in pillow book adaptation so it's like a little crumb

@Emily I don't blame you. I took a break from dramas because of so many bad ones. It seems like they are either really good or really awful. If you like Wallace, I recommend Journey of Flower. You might like Prince of Lan Ling and I liked Palace The Lock Heart Jade but it was extremely difficult for me to look past those awful haircuts (I hate that time period). Journey of Flower is a Xanxia. I can't think of any other dramas off the top of my head that I really liked besides Dong Yi but that is a Kdrama and has no fantasy elements. the female lead is also smart but a little too perfect. If you have any C-Novels you have read please send them my way. I've been compiling a list and am about to dive in :)

@Emily I like both DH's I think the DH in the show is more detached than the novel version. But if we look at the timeline it makes sense. I think bc more emphasis was placed on BQ storyline they kind of killed some of his witty dialogue too.

@Emily I think Pillow Book has a lot of back story that allows us time to understand FJ's (sad) love for DH, and I think it gives the readers a chance to sort of lose the rose colored glasses when looking at DH who in the eyes of everyone is like on his own level, unreachable, and 'perfect'. He's not supposed to have worldly desires. He's supposed to be the most virtuous of gods. But in reality he is anything but and in fact resorts to some underhanded methods to protect his love I don't want to give anything away but in the second book it becomes more clear; also in the second novel both characters assume two different identities. And we get some skinship. I am a fan of skinship. I am utterly shameless.

@Emily and yay for a fellow historical drama lover!

@Emily I have read the entire Westmoreland saga but the authors I like the most are Elizabeth Hoyt (I adored the Serpent Prince f.y.i. the male lead has silver hair) and Judith James' Broken Wing (a gem and rather dark as the male lead was actually a very pretty male prostitute who enters the female leads life after he protects her little brother from having the same life he was forced to have; I strongly encourage you to check this one. very well written and clever dialogue with an eccentric female lead).

Thanks! I am trying to find a site that has Lu Zhen early episodes translated. Maybe I am missing something...? I have compiled an enormous list of novels to read after someone told me about novelupdates.com and I wouldn't be surprised if that is on the list.

@ Emily they significantly tampered with the timeline of the romance with DH & FJ in addition to focusing on his cold/unemotional side and less on his eccentric/shameless side (I think). For example the novel depicts scenes early on of him exploiting the rules of the celestial court in a way that creates scandal after scandal for FJ i.e. he doesn't care about what others think so who cares if FJ's reputation is dragged through the mud because of his games/boredom? In addition to this, because some of the scenes allow us to see into his POV, he seems more human at times. Finally, the DH in the novel is not nearly as nice as the DH in the series. He's much more ruthless.

@CheriLyn--thanks for the heads up I feel like I've been living under a rock I've read manga and visual novels and web comics and now I discover the amazing world of novels! As an avid read of American romance I have to say that these novels are so much better (sadly with less skinship) in terms of dialogue and writing style. Unfortunately hunting down good translations has been a bit of a game for me at this point I will watch the show first instead of reading the novel I trust you 100% That was how I felt when they adopted cheese in the trap into a live action (extremely sad I could not get past the first episode)