Do I like book romance stories?
Yes and no.
I’d like to think my taste has improved over the years as I’ve lived through lots of personal romance.
And books.
Since the post goes live on Valentine’s Day in 2023 and I’m part of a related giveaway, I’m highlighting several of my favorites in the book romance category.
Book romance connected to life experiences
Long ago my husband was out to sea (of course) when a terrifying accident occurred.
Our two toddler sons, me, and his mother were in a terrible head-on crash–at our driveway’s mailbox.
It happened to be New Year’s Eve–and we had not seen him in over a month.
I did not know when he would return.
After the rides to the hospital, my mother-in-law returning home in pain for the rest of her life, and our car destroyed, life returned to a new “normal.”
I had no husband to hug me and tell me everything would be okay.
Instead, I had Mary Stewart novels to comfort me.
Airs Above the Ground provided the book romance and comfort I needed during that time.
The dialogue reminded me of the banter I missed and needed so much.
So, I reread the pages over and over again.
Romantic?
Maybe not to others, but it helped me.
Sharing Books with your Romantic Interest is even more fun!
Of course, sharing a romantic book with my engineer husband is even more fun.
We love Nevil Shute novels.
And why not?
The heroes are always engineers–with perfectly capable love interests who meet them half-way.
That would be us.
“Pure romance,” I always say. He laughs.
(Who can forget A Town Like Alice?)
We also read all the Poldark stories a very long time ago–vying over who would finish one so the next could start it.
Book romance–and a movie, too?
Hand’s down–the obvious choice.
A&E’s Pride and Prejudice for the movie (1995).
I love it, too, but I also really like Persuasion–after all, the hero is a naval officer . . .
My husband loves Jane Austen and has read her books far more times than I have!
What’s a guy romance?
Years ago, he explained the concept of a “guy romance,” and even wrote a blog post about it here.
To his credit, my Engineer wrote the post as an explanation of why he loved my Navy-SEAL novel, Bridging Two Hearts.
He likes to point out a guy romance is a book wherein our hero runs into a damsel in distress–who is distressing.
(Okay, I wrote the book, so it probably isn’t fair to include it. In fact, see A Poppy in Remembrance, for a more mature male romantic lead. BTW, my guy’s a far better man than the heroes in those novels!)
Other book romances–nonfiction?
I love nonfiction and memoir, and of course, romances that actually occurred are memorable as well.
One of my favorites, which I read as a new Navy wife, was James and Sybil Stockdale’s In Love and War.
I didn’t realize then, but it was preparing me for the next 20 years. Sybil Stockdale left me a tale of dedication I needed to remember time and again.
And you know? After all these years, a long marriage is more romantic to me than any book romance.
Happy Valentine’s Day
Tweetables
Book romances that never grow old. Click to Tweet
Guy romances, comfort novels, Pride and Prejudice, and other romance stories. Click to Tweet
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