Back by popular demand, it’s Which One First, where we recommend where new readers should start with an author’s considerable backlist.
And also by request: it’s Which One First? Alice Coldbreath Edition!
Alice Coldbreath, if you aren’t familiar, is a massively popular author of historical romances, specifically medievals and some Victorian stories.
I love the entire existence of Coldbreath’s career. In a time where historical romance is not as dominant as it once was, and the more popular genres in romance are contemporary and Rrrrrrrrrromantasy, Alice Coldbreath is killing it writing medievals. Medievals! A subgenre of romance I hadn’t thought of until Coldbreath started dominating Reddit threads. I love this. I love it so much. It’s so great!
I also love her “about” page on her website: a portrait of (I presume) Alice herself with a very handsome dog, done in a medieval style.
And, after a three sentence bio, the page reads:
Alice Coldbreath’s books promise you…
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- A guaranteed Happily Ever After for the hero and heroine.
- Categorically NO cheating by the central characters within their pages.
- To be stand-alone romances that will never end on a cliff-hanger or require the purchase of another book to complete the central story.
Reader warning, Alice Coldbreath’s books also contain:
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- Jealous heroes
- Strong language.
- Scenes of a sexual nature.
I kinda like this forthright authorial guarantee. It’s very satisfying!
Lara has reviewed Wed by Proxy and gave it an A, in part because she loved how the book gave her the flavor of “tempestuous novels with slammed doors and groveling and intense feelings” (a la Jilly Cooper) but didn’t “make me cringe or rage because of dubious consent, controlling behaviour, and the like.” Lara also loved An Inconvenient Vow, and gave it an A-.
But where do you think a new reader should start with Coldbreath’s novels?
She has, if I understand correctly, three main groups of novels:
- medievals set in the fictional kingdom of Karadok
- Victorian novels set in the actual-factual Victorian era in England
- And! A paranormal – it’s a medieval with shifters called Love Potion for the Alpha
Folks who love Coldbreath’s novels like that she writes slow burn love stories that frequently start with arranged marriages, but also feature heroes who become completely besotted with their partners. There also seem to be a lot of Deeply Shitty Parents.
With several series, it makes sense, as Lara advised when we discussed this internally, to start “at the beginning of whatever series you’re interested in. I should have started with the Vaudrey brothers series.”
Amanda says, “My first and only Coldbreath was Her Baseborn Bridegroom and I found it underwhelming, probably because I set my expectations too high. I have friends who squee about her books a lot. I think it’s a fine entry, but I don’t know if it’s the best entry, if that makes sense.”
Claudia agrees: “I started with that one too, Amanda — then never picked up more of her books.”
I personally don’t start at the beginning of a series if I don’t want to. (I realize this is truly unfathomable behavior to many of you!) I’ll start with book 6 if that’s the one I want to read.
Kiki agrees: “For the medieval inspired books, I actually think you should skip Her Baseborn Bridegroom and read His Forsaken Bride first—it’s the set up for the rest of the Karadok series and gives a better vision of the whole court, although I know some folks don’t love the hero.
“For the Victorian series, I LOVED A Substitute Wife for the Prizefighter (again, the second book in the series).”
So please help your fellow readers, Alice Coldbreath fans! Between the Brides of Karadok series and the Victorian Prizefighter and Victorian Reversal of Fortune series, which books do you recommend a new reader start with?
And if possible, please try to explain why you’re recommending that book as a starting place. Y’all make wonderful recommendations.
