Great Love Stories

I mentioned Monday on my personal blog that my older son and his wife were married on Valentine’s Day. It was a joyful wedding, loving and romantic. No big fancy affair, just the bride and groom, my husband and myself, the bride’s best friend, and a judge happy to officiate, followed by a wedding breakfast at a local hotel. Afterwards the bride and groom had to take a long drive so that my son could represent in court a couple accused of white collar crime. This love story is one of many worldwide.

Love stories have always been an important part of history and literature. Cleopatra and Mark Anthony. Cleopatra and Julius Caesar (Cleopatra did get around). As Shakespeare said, “she was a woman of infinite variety.” Then there is the story of Napoleon and Josephine, another passionate love affair. In the Bible, we also find some of the world’s greatest and unforgettable love stories. What can be more romantic than the story of Ruth or Solomon and the Queen of Sheba? And there is the story of Esther which is celebrated on Purim.

A lot of the world’s most famous, classical love stories, of course, did not end happily: Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Helen of Troy and Paris, Lancelot, Arthur and Guinevere (a triangle). These are tragedies.

Some of the literary characters I consider unforgettable are those of the Bronte sisters: Healthcliff and Catherine, the tormented lovers in Emily’s Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester of Charlotte’s famous novel. Both romances are in the gothic tradition.

Thomas Hardy wrote a number of tragic love stories as well. For something lighter, I prefer Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth and Darcy are memorable. I’ve read and reread that novel numerous times. My own romances have happy endings as well since I prefer them.

Love quite literally makes the world go round. My favorite Valentine’s Day gift  would be a new romance novel. Candy makes me fat. Flowers wilt and die too soon. But a great romance can be read and reread and enjoyed.

 If you’re of a mind to read some sensual historical fiction, I suggest a look at my contest-winning Georgian romance THE CHEVALIER, set in the Scottish Highlands and available in all e-book formats.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GY95RTU/

Then there’s TEA LEAVES AND TAROT CARDS, a Regency romance recommended by Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick, also now published in all e-book formats: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JFHMXWW

If you enjoy romantic short stories, consider my collection BEYOND THE BO TREE, a book that combines romance, mystery, fantasy and the paranormal:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DTV0750

For teenage girls and their mothers to share, THE DEVIL AND DANNA WEBSTER is a clean read romance also available in all e-book formats.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JZYXW7K/

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/433530

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-devil-and-danna-webster-jacqueline-seewald/1119365486?ean=2940149550449

Kobo

store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-devil-and-danna-webster

and

itunes

If you’re a fan of romantic suspense, take a look at DEATH LEGACY available in all e-book formats. To read a free partial of that novel, go to:

 http://www.thenovelfox.com/death-legacy

Can you think of any romances you would recommend to readers? What sort of romance fiction do you particularly enjoy reading?