Hi, guys. Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, hosted and created by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Favorite Romances. Haha you know I’ve been dying for this one. I love romance! You might be surprised to hear that I only really started reading romance in the last few years. It just never really appealed to me. That was before I discovered paranormal romances though. Once you go supernatural, you can’t go back. I had a really hard time narrowing it down.
Nine Rules to Break When Romance a Rake by Sarah MacLean – Historical romance about a spinster and a rake who fight like cats and dogs? Yes, please! But seriously, Sarah MacLean is a fantastic writer and there is so much emotion and passion in her stories. I always get emotional reading them.
It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas – It was really hard picking my favorite Lisa Kleypas book. It was between this one and Married by Morning, which I also love. But I ended up going with this one. I just love the banter and chemistry between Lilian and Marcus. Both of them are great characters on their own and are irresistible together.
Persuasion by Jane Austen – Like many, I am a fan of Jane Austen. While I love P&P as much as the next person, I have a soft spot for
Persuasion. There’s just something about this story of two lovers separated by the years coming together again. Lots of furtive looks and simmering passion make this one of my top picks.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery – I love Anne Shirley & Gilbert Blythe! They have that great, bickering chemistry and I love that Anne is smart and outspoken. I also love watching the TV adaptation of this book.
Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh – Again, I had a really hard time picking my favorite Nalini Singh book. Seriously, I think she needs her own category. But I love this book in the Psy-Changeling series because this story was a culmination of a lot of things. Hawke is the alpha of the Snow Dancer pack and Sienna is the young Psy who has plagued him for years. I think a lot of people weren’t sure if Singh could pull off a credible romance with such a big age difference. But she did and these two characters are so perfectly matched. This was a really emotional one, too.
Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward – I have several favorites from this series but I picked Z’s story because I have always had a soft spot for him. If you like tortured heroes, you definitely need to read this one.
Winterblaze by Kristen Callihan – I haven’t written my review of this one yet but let me just say that it’s awesome. Kristen Callihan writes fantastic relationships and each new book becomes a new favorite. Love the spark and passion that she shows between the long married couple Win and Poppy in this book. These two characters have such a deep connection and they are a great team.
Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead – I think is probably more of an urban fantasy book than romance, per se, but the romance between Seth and Georgina is the heart of the whole series. Most people know Mead from her YA series
Vampire Academy. However, I think the Succubus series is even better than VA (and I love VA). Seth is an author (adorable!) and Georgina is a succubus making ends meet in a bookstore. Mead’s characters are written like real human beings and are complex and diverse. Read this series!
After The Night by Linda Howard – This was one of the first romantic suspense novels that I read a few years ago that got my on the romance train. My friend N was my first smut peddler and she recommended this one. It’s hard to explain why I love this one so much. The story is a little bit dated but the two love interests have fantastic, combustible chemistry. They also hate each other at the beginning, which is one of my favorite romance tropes. Seriously hot romance that I think will appeal to a wide audience.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins – This seems a bit out of place on my list of mostly paranormal reads but I really enjoyed this YA contemp by Stephanie Perkins. I thought this book was really sweet and captured young love really well. I liked that Anna and St. Clair didn’t fall for each other instantly and were friends first. It’s also set in Paris, which makes it even better.
I could have chosen many more but these are some of my faves. Hope you guys enjoy and Happy almost Valentine’s Day!