Our Favorite Romance Stories
In honor of Bookstore Romance Day, Bookseller Katie thought it might be fun to celebrate by having our staff recount their favorite romances. These did not have to be romance novels (though some are), but rather the love stories that we could not stop thinking about. We hope you give some of these a try and find their love stories as affirming and memorable as we do.
Amanda—The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer
Edward Cullen still does it for me. We all have our guilty indulgences, and Stephanie Meyer's Twilight heartthrob, especially portrayed by Robert Pattinson, hits all the right notes. I'm very aware why this character makes me swoon—Edward Cullen would literally spend a thousand years just watching Bella Swan sleep. He lives, fake breathes, and doesn't sleep Everything Bella. I guess what I'm saying is that the ideal man, as perfectly written by Meyer, would live only to love me—no personal needs of his own and thinking I'm without a single flaw.
Amy—The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon and In Love by Amy Bloom
Besides making history interesting, Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series features a highly entertaining and complex love story between Claire (World War II nurse) and Jamie Fraser (18th Century Scottish Highlander). Their love story is central to the novel, and feels authentic and uncontrived. Deep character development, and a lot of history surrounding them, had me eagerly transported to another place and time. Claire and Jamie’s loyalty and passion make their time-travel saga unforgettable.
As for In Love—holy crap. This book is remarkable. Bloom tells the story of her husband’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and ultimately, the difficult support she provides when he decides to die on his own terms. In Love is an incredible story about the depths a spouse will go through to aid someone they love, even in death. This is the ultimate act of love—that’s what Amy Bloom did.
Bailey—The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw
The Salt Grows Heavy is not for the light of heart. This dark spin on mermaid mythology follows the queen, a mermaid (of sorts) after she and her children lay waste to the kingdom in which she was imprisoned. She departs with a figure known as "the plague doctor," and while disturbing and disturbed, these characters share an incredible intimacy and deep understanding of the other's nature, monstrous though they may be, that guides them as they navigate the increasingly horrifying world.
Chad—Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy’s characters create a literary lens on human psychology and philosophy. You’ll find them insufferable and infuriating, but also grounded and passionate. Do I love them or hate them? This is a story of love, betrayal, the soul and the meanings of life. It’s also about mowing, arguing politics, hunting, and bureaucracy. I suspect this is a masterpiece.
Ellyn—Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
I love this story because it's about people who come into each other's lives at exactly the right time, even if that time is brief.
Emily—The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
Romance isn’t my go-to genre, but when I read this book’s description before its release, the Miss Congeniality-like premise of a tough and heartbroken bodyguard pretending to be a celebrity’s girlfriend caught my eye. I gave it a try, and this book made me laugh out loud. It made my mom laugh out loud. And it was sweet as pie the whole time. Both of the book’s leads grapple with grief, but Center handles their journeys with such humor and love that their experience becomes comforting. Try this book out if you want something fun, heartfelt, and a little bit cheesy.
Katie—Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, Get Thee Off My Lawn by Daria Vernon, and Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins
I read romances because I NEED to know that even though the characters are going to GO THROUGH IT over the course of the story they will get some version of a Happily Ever After by the end of the book. Like most readers, I find it very difficult to narrow down my favorite within my comfort genre, so you will have to bear with me.
If I am reading to completely immerse myself into another world then I love to pick up a romantasy. I finished Fourth Wing a while back and let me tell you, it completely earned all the hype it has received. I could not get enough of Violet, Tairn, Andarna, Xaden, and Liam and the enemies-to-lovers trope within a dragon academy just really, really worked y'all.
Sometimes I want just want to gobble up an absolutely bonkers plot with loads of quirky characters that make me in turn giggle and swoon. If that's the case I almost always reach for a historical romance, and Get Thee Off My Lawn by Daria Vernon delivers on all accounts. April Nightingale's (how great is that name?!) swan, Gerald, has absconded to her neighbor's estate so April decides to go retrieve Gerald herself. After all, it's not like her 90-year-old neighbor will stop her. Except, contrary to what she has been told, her neighbor is most definitely not 90 years old. In fact, he is very much April's age and would like to know why she is trudging through his pond, and if perhaps, she needs to use his bath, to, you know, clean up.
Then there are times I just want to read an old-fashioned love of a lifetime romance. Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgans is the most beautiful love story I have read in maybe forever. Lauren and Josh's relationship was inspiring, breathtaking, and heartbreaking and their journey together is one that I still think of often months after I finished the book.
Jess—The Bromance Book Club Series by Lyssa Kay Adams
Hi, my favorite romance is the Bromance series becaaaaauuusse…. It’s more of an enemies to lovers trope which I like the best (so much buildup of tension), the entire premise of a group of manly men (professional athletes so imagine great physique) organizing a bookclub to only read romance novels in order to better understand women is freaking adorable and the author does a great job of using what the guys have learned toward the issue of each book. There’s also a deeper issue at play within each book/couple scenario so the books aren’t simply frivolous. And then there’s Vlad, the Russian hockey player who loves cheese, has an undercover black market type cheese seller but who should not consume it for bodily reasons. He is fucking hilarious.
Mariah—Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead, Armadale by Wilkie Collins, and Bleak House by Charles Dickens
I am, to my very core, a hopeless romantic (which has not be tempered by my real-life love story with my husband Sean, who is, by almost every measure, as swoon-worthy as any romance novel hero). When Katie asked what our favorite romance stories were, I struggled to think of just a dozen, let alone one. So I settled on including 3 of the love stories that I have loved for years and can’t stop thinking about.
Succubus Blues is the first in a series by Richelle Mead (of Vampire Academy fame) about a succubus who longs for a man that she can’t help but harm by loving him. I read this book entirely too young (it’s decently spicy for a 13-year-old) but its narrative of true love overcoming even the greatest obstacles has stuck with me now for over a decade and I reread this series with regularity.
When I included the next two titles, Katie called me a nerd, and you know what?? I totally am. Armadale’s love story is a doomed one—the main villain/morally gray protagonist Lydia Gwilt is transformed so thoroughly by a true and real love for the male lead, Ozias Midwinter, that she takes drastic actions to ensure his happiness and wellbeing over hers. I weep every time I read it. In Bleak House there are many love stories, but the one I can never get over is between the protagonist Esther Summerson and Allan Woodcourt, who are both so wholesome and good that they could rot your teeth. Yet their love story isn’t overly cheesy or saccharine because the obstacles in their path (which are, eventually, overcome) are so believable. This couple means so much to me that I included lines from their love confession in my own wedding vows.
Nayeli—Reckless by Elsie Silver, The Right Move by Liz Tomforde, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, and Wildfire by Hannah Grace
As someone who reads a lot of romance books books I have a lot of favorites like Reckless by Elsie Silver, The Right Move by Liz Tomforde, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros or most recently Wildfire by Hannah Grace. However my all time favorite romance book is the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi. This is a YA dystopian series that features a beautiful love story between Aaron and Juliette. I read this book for the first time when I was in middle school and even though I have re read it multiple times every single time my heart flutters. My favorite book is a tie between Ignite Me and the last novella Believe Me. This loves story makes me believe that love not only is beautiful and everlasting but it can change how we see the world (dramatic I know, but hey that’s why I love it so much). Romance books will always be my favorite and this one has a special place in my heart.
Rachel—The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
A retelling of Kate and Will’s story but make it with a dash of Iowa. Truly my favorite romance that sends you into the world of the British Monarchy with a wonderful cast of characters. Told in several parts, you follow this couple through college and after, with the ups and downs along the way. Struggling to put into words the love I have for this book.
Roxy—Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The epitome of enemies to lovers! Regency era romance! Scheming! Romantic prose & sick burns! I mean, with quotes like:
“You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
And:
"You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it."
It even has a whole quote about the exemplary potato! This book has it all. And when you’re done reading this amazing love story, immediately watch the 2005 Pride and Prejudice with the exemplary Keira Knightley & Matthew Macfayden. You won’t be disappointed!
Tanvi—Deacon King Kong and The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
While the central love stories in Deacon King Kong and The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store center around community and the ways in which forgotten or discounted people look out for one another (sometimes with real care and compassion; other times grudgingly), both stories also feature men and the women who challenge and propel them to new heights while keeping them rooted to the earth. These aren't sexy people with sexy stories. They're husbands with wives who are spiritual and maddening in the way they hold their men accountable to their morals, their communities, and their gods. These are spouses who live in times and places that might otherwise crush them and so--in spite of or because of this--they carve small universes for one another in which the other is, eternally and above all else, safe.
