So what would you recommend?

As expected, I'm getting lots of hits from people looking for "books like Twilight" now--probably about half the search hits are along those lines. I don't know exactly how the Google Analytics data is gathered, but most people who find this blog through that search don't seem to spend any time reading posts; of those who do, I wonder, are any of them actually going to READ Both Sides of Time?

(I suspect that Both Sides of Time has one major drawback: it's too short. It's a normal YA novel length, which means it probably looks like a "baby" book. I hold that the main thing that makes Twilight acceptable for mainstream adults is that it's big. Not that this is YA, but my uncle once made a disparaging comment about the Clan of the Cave Bear series that makes me laugh every time I think of it: "I always think those books are for people who want to feel like they're reading really Big books." Like their length imbues them with the characteristics of quality literature. Yes, my uncle and I are kind of elitist. But then, I've read all of Jean M. Auel's books, more than once. Maybe I'm a wannabe elitist.)

I want to offer these Twilight-searchers more. If someone came to you asking for recommendations for "romantic books just like Twilight", what would you recommend?

It's a difficult thing, the art of making book recommendations, especially phrased in terms of "can you recommend another book like..." Kind of like I mention in my previous post, my idea of what's interesting about a book will be completely different from someone else's, even though we both like it. So I can recommend a book, and the recommendee will come back and say "Why did you recommend this to me? It's NOTHING like [fill-in-the-blank]".

Is The Cheerleader a romantic book like Twilight, or is it too intellectual, with the added "drawback" of being historical fiction? What about Gone With the Wind--is that an epic romance, or is it an accounting of battles fought and casualty lists published and cotton picked? For that matter, shouldn't The Valley of the Horses (second Clan of the Cave Bear book) appeal to people who loved Twilight, or will they be bored by the lion-taming and fire-starting and endless recountings of Pleasures, both human and animal?

Seriously, what would you recommend? It doesn't have to be fantasy, or even necessarily YA, or necessarily long. It just has to be "romantic". (Um, and despite my mention of Auel above, well-written would be great. Actually, The Valley of the Horses isn't THAT bad, or anyway it could be worse, as you can observe later in the series.)