The Best Romance Novels Ever Written
We're continuing our Critical Reading series of romance novels, from the classics to today's masters' breathless reads. We used a variety of resources, but the two most important were National Public Radio's "Happy Ever After: 100 Swoon-Worthy Romances" and Goodreads' "Best Top Romance Novels of All Time."
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Let's get down to the meat of the matter.
1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice is a perfect place to start because it is by far the most well-known love story of all time. Mr. Darcy is introduced by Elizabeth Bennett, and the condition is set in the first line: "It is a widely accepted fact that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in search of a wife." What is the main point? Do you want to marry for love or for money?
2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Claire is whisked back in time to the 1700s in Scotland, where she encounters Jamie Fraser, a Scotts warrior who shows Claire how to love like she's never learned before. She does, however, have a husband from her own time, one who is clearly not the wild and wonderful Scotsman. What is she going to pick?
3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Jane Eyre, an orphan and outcast, takes a governess role for a young girl in a strange situation with Edward Rochester, a dark and brooding lord. What secrets do you think Thornfield Hall holds? What would Jane do when she learns about Mr. Rochester's dark past?
4. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
During the Civil War, Scarlett O'Hara, a spoiled, headstrong woman, finds herself in dire straits. Scarlett uses all of her wits to keep her family and plantation out of poverty, despite the fact that her wealth and plantation are in shambles. Rhett Butler, the famed Rhett Butler, offers her a way out, but will she lose her heart?
5. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility, another amazing tale by Jane Austen, depicts two women in love. Marianne Dashwood's affection for the sweet Willoughby is impulsive, while Elinor Dashwood is sensible but fails to hide her angst about Edward Ferras.
6. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
This guy knows how to write a love story. Every morning, an older gentleman visits a lady with a failing memory to read to her from a battered notebook. The love story of Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson is told in the diary, and Allie is torn between marrying her fiancé and giving up everything for Noah.
7. Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught
Whitney Stone returned to England, fresh from her triumphs in Paris society, to win the heart of Paul, her childhood love...only to be bargained away by her bankrupt father to the handsome, arrogant Duke of Claymore. Whitney can't — won't — give up her dream of true love as his smoldering passion seduces her into a raging storm of lust.
8. A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux
Dougless Montgomery is abandoned in an English church when a Knight in Shining Armor appears...from the 1500s. Nicholas Stafford, Earl of Thornwyck, has arrived to support his damsel-in-distress.
9. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
A young boy suffering from pneumonia asks if the book contains any sports or if it is boring as an immigrant father reads to him. According to his father, "Fencing is a term that refers to the act of It's a fight. Torture and poison are two words that come to mind when thinking about torture and poison. This is true love. Hatred is a powerful emotion. Retaliation. Giants, to be precise. Hunters are people who hunt animals. Men who are bad. Good gentlemen. The most lovely women. Snakes and spiders are two of the most dangerous creatures on the planet. Beasts of every kind and definition. Suffering. Death. Men of valor. Men who are afraid. The most powerful men. Pursuits and eludes. Falsehoods. The truths. Passions and miracles are two words that come to mind when thinking about this book." And, though he doesn't realize it, the little boy's life is about to change forever.
10. After Forever Ends by Melodie Ramone
Silvia Cotton, fifteen, had lived a lonely life, orphaned by her mother and shunned by her father. That is, until 1985, when her father relocated the family from the Scottish Highlands to the Welsh Midlands. She enrolls in Bennington, a private boarding school, where she meets the adorable and rebellious Dickinson twins, Oliver and Alexander, and her miserable life is forever changed.
11. Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
Jessica Trent's sole goal is to liberate her nitwit brother from Sebastian Ballister, the infamous Marquess of Dain's destructive influence. She never expects to be smitten by the haughty, amoral jerk. Jessica has no choice but to seek fulfillment when Dain's mutual desire puts them in a scandalously compromising, and public, role.
12. The Bride by Julie Garwood
Alec Kincaid, the most powerful of the Scottish lairds, is forced to marry an English woman by the king's decree. Jamie, Baron Jamison's youngest daughter, is his preference. Alec felt a burning hunger in his stomach from the moment he saw the proud and beautiful English woman. Jamie, on the other hand, swears a secret oath during the wedding vows: she will never sacrifice her love for this Highland barbarian.
Is there a romance novel that you think should be on this list but isn't? Please let us know in the comments section below!
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