Day 3: Authors reveal what's on their keeper shelf

Update: Congratulations to Mina De Caro, winner of a box of newer releases. Please check Facebook messages for information on how to claim your prize.

Original post begins here:

Welcome to Day 3 of HEA's five days of romance authors' favorite romances. If you didn't catch yesterday's and Monday's posts, you can check them out here and here. Notice the awesome giveaway on that one? A box of newer releases. That's right, a box. Well, this post has the same giveaway. So if you leave a comment sharing a book that's on your keeper shelf, you could win. Now, here's what today's authors had to say (they're listed along with their most recent or upcoming release):

Cindy Gerard, Killing Time (February)

"The Hummingbird, LaVryle Spencer. Classic, evocative, intoxicating romance. I've read it at least six times over the years."

Cindy Kirk, The Doctor's Not-So-Little Secret

"Dream a Little Dream by the incomparable Susan Elizabeth Phillips has a permanent space on my keeper shelf. This one has it all -- humor, romance and a plot that keeps me turning the pages each time I open the book."

Joanna Bourne, The Black Hawk

"The Bargain by Mary Jo Putney. The Bargain is a remake of The Would-Be Widow, one of Putney's slim traditional Regencies from the '80s. I have both books and I've gone through them several times, looking at how Putney expanded and enriched. I'm fascinated by this plot-tuning. As a writer, I learn. As a reader, I just enjoy. The Bargain is the ultimate marriage-of-convenience story. To protect her inheritance, our heroine marries a dying soldier. You can see what's coming. He recovers, of course. So awkward. … It's pure joy to watch Jocelyn fumble through the shock of David's inconvenient recovery. Delightful to see David's dismay when he finds himself trapped in marriage to a woman he isn't sure he approves of. The richness of these protagonists makes The Bargain such a good book. We watch this wonderfully complex pair fall in love despite all the obstacles they create for themselves."

Christine Ashworth, Demon Hunt

"Three down, six over: It's Kristan Higgins' My One and Only. Oh, what a wonderful book! What a beautifully flawed heroine and a divinely patient hero! All the characters that these two are surrounded with need their own stories. I adore Harper's journey, especially when it comes to the mothers in her life. Those scenes at the end had me in tears. I highly recommend this book!"

Bec McMaster, Kiss of Steel

"Claiming the Courtesan by Anna Campbell. Passionate, lusty and with a wicked alpha hero who needs to be brought down a peg or two, this is a love story that earns its happy ever after. Hmm, think I need to do a re-read."

Deirdre Martin, Breakaway

"The book I took down was Jennifer Crusie's Faking It. I love Jennifer Crusie for so many reasons! She does screwball comedy perfectly. Her plots are always intricate and surprising, and her characters are always a hoot. She's one of the few romances writers who can make me laugh out loud. That can be pretty embarrassing when it happens on an airplane, but there's not much you can do, apart from wearing a sign around your neck saying, 'Reading Jennifer Crusie: Beware of Spontaneous Eruptions of Laughter.' I read her books over and over. She's just the best."

Bella Andre, Let Me Be the One (The Sullivans)

"Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie is one of my all-time favorite books. I have read it over and over and over ... and laughed out loud every single time!"

Shana Galen, When You Give a Duke a Diamond

"Warlord by Elizabeth Elliott has been on my keeper shelf since its release in 1995. I love romances with humor, poignancy and action. This one has all three. Lady Tess was so charming and Kenric was so sexy. I'm so pleased to see that Elizabeth Elliott is writing again."

Mia Marlowe, How to Vex a Viscount

"My keeper is Sherry Thomas' Delicious. This story sticks with me for the beauty of language, Sherry's unique insights into the human heart and, of course, all that decadent 'food porn'!"

Julie Leto, Dirty Little Secrets

"On my keeper shelf (which is actually one physical shelf now since I converted to digital books) is an entire collection of Linda Lael Miller historicals, namely, her Corbin series. Corbin's Fancy was a revelation ... a historical that wasn't quite so serious as the others I'd been reading, but that was not only incredibly sexy, but also humorous. Her heroines were so non-traditional and feisty!"

Eden Bradley, The Dark Garden

"Dance Upon the Air, the first book in Nora Roberts' Three Sisters Island trilogy. This is one of those series I've read over and over. There's something about each of the three heroines I can relate to, and I always love stories that show the powerful magic of female friendships -- in this case real magic! Plus, heroes to die for -- Nora's specialty, of course!"

Caroline Linden, The Way to a Duke's Heart

"Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas is my all-time favorite romance. She's a wild free spirit with a Desperate Secret. He's the uptight Noble Aristocrat who plans to marry her sister. They are combustible. She ties him to her bed! She paints a snake on herself -- and he washes it off! I read this every year or so because the characters still make me smile, make me sigh, and make me cry."

Lina Gardiner, Black Moon Awakening

"My book is Edge of Fear by Cherry Adair. (It's actually book nine in the Edge of Fear series, but they were out of order on my shelf.) Cherry has written this really wonderful Series about a top-secret paranormal military unit of elite counterterrorism agents. I love the depth of emotion that Cherry Adair is able to impart in her stories; They're tense, they're sexy, they're really well written and they are just darned good stories. Can't say enough good things about Cherry Adair, apparently!"

Joan Swan, Blaze

"Hot Rain by Kat Martin is in this spot on my keeper shelf. Sexy bad boy? Check. Danger at every turn? Check. Hot jungle sex? Cheh-he-heck. Happily ever after that makes you sigh with gratification? Check. Yep, Hot Rain will definitely be staying in that coveted keeper-shelf spot."

Teresa Medeiros, Goodnight Tweetheart

"Judith McNaught's Paradise is one of the crown jewels in my romance collection. It was the first big contemporary romance by the beloved historical romance writer and I remember every word as being absolute paradise to read. Judith proved in this book that her warm-hearted heroines and slightly dangerous heroes translated beautifully to the modern world. Now I want to read it again!"

Carey Baldwin, First Do No Evil

"Uh oh. Turns out the sixth book from the right is The Heart of Christmas by Mary Balogh, Courtney Milan and Margaret Moore ... the Japanese version! Hence, one of the authors is different. Hence, beads of guilty sweat are popping out on my forehead because I don't remember if Courtney Milan gave me this special book or if it stowed away in my suitcase by accident! Nevertheless, it's an awesome Christmas anthology, and I kept the English version, too."

Kathleen Eagle, Night Falls Like Silk

"One of the classics on my keeper shelf is Lightning That Lingers by Tom and Sharon Curtis. Prim librarian meets Chippendales-style dancer with a cause. One of the best series romances ever published."

Kristen Callihan, Moonglow

"If I go the third shelf, sixth book over, I find Nalini Singh's Archangel's Blade, which is smack dab in the middle of my paranormal section (yes, I organize according to sub-genre, and, yes, my husband thinks I'm a bit obsessive about my keeper collection). I love all of Nalini's books. Archangel's Blade was especially good -- so very dark and disturbing, yet passionate and very romantic. I kept it because, if I love a book, I cannot stand to get rid of it. And despite my husband's ... ahem ... eye-rolling, I often re-read my favorites. There is nothing like slipping into the warm comfort of a well-loved story."

Joanne Kennedy, Cowboy Crazy

"Six, five, four, three, two … Lucky in Love by Carolyn Brown! I remember the first time I read this book and discovered Carolyn's incredible voice. Reading her stories feels like sitting down for a long conversation with a dear friend, and her slapstick humor reminds me of those old screwball comedies of the '40s. Whenever I'm feeling down, this book is good medicine!"

Candis Terry, Somebody Like You

"Heather Graham, One Wore Blue (from 1991). This was one of a series of three books set in the Civil War era. I haven't read it in a long time, but I've always been partial to stories set in this time of great conflict and devastation. I remember these stories being about two brothers who fought on opposite sides and their sister. Very emotional and written with such a wonderful voice. So now that it's off the keeper shelf, guess I'll just have to read it. Again."

Don't forget to leave a comment sharing a book from your keeper shelf for a chance to win a box of newer releases.

You can enter through midnight ET Friday, Oct. 26. Winner will be notified by Monday, Oct. 29. (Contest rules are at the bottom of Monday's post.)