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Juliet Marillier's Sevenwaters Trilogy (Daughter of the Forest, Son of the Shadows, and Child of the Prophecy) is the best romance-while-not-being-romance I've ever read. Set in ancient Ireland, it follows a family through three generations. Lots of druids, magic, mystery, and a fair bit of that 'twoo wuv' stuff.
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Astaril, I once started that series, and got halfway through the second one, and had to return it to the library (I left the country or something) -- now I'm in Israel, and I can't find them ANYWHERE, and I really want to finish the trilogy! I loved Daughter of the Forest.
MG, I recommend The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks, which is one of the more beautiful love stories I've read in a long time. It's not cheesy, but it's really touching. The movie is also beautiful, if you enjoy the book.
I'll post again if I think of any more.
Posts: 7877 | Registered: Feb 2003
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I was going to suggest Jane Austen, but I guess OSC beat me to it. It's all wonderful.
If you've read Louisa May Alcott's Eight Cousins, the sequel, Rose in Bloom is quite romantic.
And, adult novelizations of fairy tales (like OSC's Enchantment ) tend to be wonderful for romance. There's also Robin McKinley's Beauty, Patricia C. Wrede's retelling of Snow White and Rose Red, and a bunch of others.
Oh, and there's a fun little book by Mercedes Lackey called Fairy Godmother that was romantic AND cute. Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Diana Gabaldon's series about the Scottish wars, it's got time travel and good romance too.
For older stuff, I really liked Wuthering Heights and Far from the Madding Crowd (unrequited love at its squishy best).
Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000
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My favorite romance is a little known title called "Ender's Game." The romantic element of this work has been numerously downplayed by critics -- the most common form of this putdown-age is when a critic purposfuly ignores it.
However, Ender's Game is full of romance. Romance of the human to the intergalatic dream of conquest, that is. This relationship, an often rocky, tumultious one, is one that Orson Card, the author, manages to capture in startling beauty.
Posts: 3060 | Registered: Nov 2003
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The Last Herald Mage has an unconventional romance. Really, it's one of the most romantic books I've ever read and would make me cry if I were a crying type. Then you have Stardust which has a bit of romance, more conventional.
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I would definately recommend Enchantment. I would also recommend Rose Daughter, Spindle's End, The Blue Sword, The Hero and The Crown, or Sunshine, all by Robin McKinley. Anything by Jane Austen is good, but incredible predictable.
I would not recommend Wuthering Heights. It was one of the two books I've ever read that I really didn't like. (The other was Lord Jim.)
posted
Robin McKinley later revisited the Beauty and the Beast story in Rose Daughter, a more mature take on the story than she did in the Young Adult version of her first novel.
("Mature" as in it deals with more complex things, not because of smut. )
It also has a very non-traditional twist to the ending, but one that fits perfectly with the supposed moral of the story. Posts: 6689 | Registered: Jan 2005
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How about the Alvin Maker series? I love the relationship between Alvin and Peggy. It's my favourite OSC couple.
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And anything by Nicholas Sparks. The Notebook movie that came out recently seems to be popular, but I haven't read one of his books yet that I didn't like. I just read Message in a Bottle for about the fourth time. *sniffle* It gets me everytime. (It's also a movie. But who are we kidding, books are just better!)
I've read all those, and liked them. (And look at the pretty covers! Especially on "The Wedding."
He's got a new one out called True Believer, just in case you become a big fan like I did, you'll want to read 'em all. Posts: 925 | Registered: Nov 2004
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We need a "Good book recommendation" thread, cause I've got a million!
And I'm sure you all do too. and if we exchanged good book knowledge.. then.. then.. my head will probably explode from the excitement. Posts: 925 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I think I'm going to start with the Outlander series, because my mom owns it and loves it.
I'll post reviews as I finish the books you guys suggested. It doesn't take long for me to finish books either, for I work at a daycare and am able to read during naptime. (About 3 hours a day, it's AWESOME.) Some of them I've already read- like the Notebook, Gone With the Wind, Enchantment, most of Jane Austen's work, and Louisa May Alcott's Little Women series. (Although I must reread those. I fell in love with them!)
posted
Since we're talking about romantic books... I heard there was a sequel to Gone With the Wind, but it was written by someone else and I don't know what it's called. Does anyone know the name of the author, or the title of the book?
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Crossing to Safety, by Wallace Stegner. Glimpses of the Moon, by Edith Wharton. Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding (not primarily Romance, but has some good romantic bits). Middlemarch, by George Eliot.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Stephen R. Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle and, to a lesser extent, his kind-of-sequel Avalon.
And I'll second anything by Robin McKinley. Or Alcott. Anne of the Island is really really romantic, but you absolutely have to have read Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea first. Same for Emily's Quest (also by Lucy Maud Montgomery)-- wonderfully romantic, but you need to read Emily of New Moon and Emily Climbs first. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Scarlett! Oh, my. If you ever want to read a sequel that completely missed the point of the first book, that is the one. It didn't help that it was written many years later, by a different author.
*SPOILER*.... ........ ........ ........
Scarlett goes to Ireland to rediscover her roots, rips up her corsets and becomes a feminist hippy earth-mother and clan leader while Rhett becomes a strange, quite incredibly boring person.
........ ........ ........
They made a movie. I think it has Timothy Dalton in it.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Scarlett was awful. Instead of a history and love story written by a witty and perceptive author, it was churned out by a pulpy romance novelist. It was terrible, and I second that it completely missed the point of the first book. The only relation it bore to GWTW is that it stole the names for the main characters.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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The Red and the Black / Stendhal I've read several translations, but I recommend the Burton Raffel translation--unless you can read it in the original French.
Posts: 25 | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Bella Bee: Scarlett! Oh, my. If you ever want to read a sequel that completely missed the point of the first book, that is the one. It didn't help that it was written many years later, by a different author.
*SPOILER*.... ........ ........ ........
Scarlett goes to Ireland to rediscover her roots, rips up her corsets and becomes a feminist hippy earth-mother and clan leader while Rhett becomes a strange, quite incredibly boring person.
........ ........ ........
They made a movie. I think it has Timothy Dalton in it.
I saw the movie. It was . . . truly bizarre, interspersed with random violence, and seemed to have little point and entirely too many plots.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote: Astaril, I once started that series, and got halfway through the second one, and had to return it to the library (I left the country or something) -- now I'm in Israel, and I can't find them ANYWHERE, and I really want to finish the trilogy! I loved Daughter of the Forest.
Raia, can you order things from Chapters or Amazon online and have it shipped there? They've got them at decent prices (c. $7 USD), though shipping to Israel is about $7 USD + $4/item it looks like. As for the books, the second one *is* good, but I think the third and first are my favourites. Maybe the third overall.
Another book of a similar vein I enjoyed was Keeper of the Crystal Spring by Naomi and Deborah Baltuck. It certainly helped satiate the craving for more when I first finished the Sevenwaters trilogy. Posts: 624 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:WASHINGTON, DC—Making a bold statement of appeal to "the long-standing spirit of entrepreneurial enterprise in this great nation" Monday, President Bush challenged the U.S. entertainment industry to produce the perfect romantic comedy by summer 2009.
"My fellow Americans, it's time for another Sleepless In Seattle," Bush said in a special prime-time address to the nation. "America has the technology. We have the market-research capacity. We have the publicity engines, the screenwriting workshops, and the deal-making power. If we all pull together, we can create the perfect romantic comedy. And America will be able to hold its head high again."
Bush said the U.S. is "prepped to win this."
"By 2009, our best teen stars—potential giants like Lindsay Lohan and that guy who played Stifler—will be at the exact right age to appeal to the crucial 18-to-39 female demographic," Bush said. "No other nation approaches America's resources and capabilities in the area of romantic entertainment."
posted
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis is great. (And if you like that one you should check out Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome.)
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