In honor of the most famous Hallmark holiday: Valentine's Day, I thought it would be fun to discuss favorite literary romances. This topic is kind of a can of worms because people often have strong feelings towards their favorite books and couples, while finding other romances (cough: The Notebook) a little too sappy. Personally, I'm not a big romance reader; however, I'm a sucker for anything British and literary. And like any girl who spends too much time with her nose in a book, I love Jane Austen. However, for my choice of all-time favorite romance novel has to be Jane Eyre. Jane is strong, smart heroine and Rochester is uber-dreamy, even if he has some minor personal problems like (spoiler alert!) a crazy pyromaniac wife. Below are a couple of runner-up favorites for me. I realize I'm leaving out a lot of usual suspects (Romeo and Juliet, Gone With The Wind, Wuthering Heights, and so on), so please feel free to post your favorite literary romances in the comments!
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Runners-Up:
Sense and Sensibility: Before you curse my name- yes, I love Pride and Prejudice and Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy are awesome. However, my favorite Austen novel is Sense and Sensibility. Even though I know what's coming, I still get a little weepy at the end.
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Speaking of Austen, I'm a big fan of Persuasion as well. Captain Wentworth is a catch, even if he's a little bit stubborn!
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Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. This book is about more than the relationship between Kath and Tommy, but I really liked the way their relationship grows and changes over time. Ishiguro is a master at breaking your heart, so have tissues handy!
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