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