Anything by Randolph Lalonde. He's concentrating on his space opera series, Spinward Fringe, and the side books lately but his fantasy work is great too. Spinward Fringe has its flaws, but they tend to be addressed, and they're easy to overlook when you're enjoying the books.

I've started reading some Jack McDevitt books too, after someone recommended one here, and I'm finding them hard to put down. It's the God Engines / Chindi series (that I've forgotten the name of) . The protagonists do seem to bounce from one problem to another, but it's done in a fairly realistic way, the whole 'we've accidentally ended up here, so we may as well look around' kind of thing. I've read two and a half books in a couple of days in between looking after my kid and visiting family, so they're definitely keeping me hooked :)