Romance is one of the most popular genres of fiction and yet I have never been able to get into it. I don’t generally like stories that are neatly tied up with a happy ending, I’m quite a cynical person and I’m not interested in solely following the highs and lows of the characters’ relationship. I find romance acceptable in a novel if it’s not the main focus and occasionally I like to read rom coms if they’re well-written or have an unusual premise. I once read a Mills and Boon novel just to see what it was like and thought it was one of the worst books I’d ever read! But to someone who loves romance and happy-ever-afters, it might be their ideal read. I’m therefore unable to recommend any purely romance reads this Valentine’s Day. However, some books I’ve enjoyed which have a romance element are:
Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson – a witchy rom com
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – an absolute classic
Yinka, Where is Your Huzband? by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn – warm-hearted contemporary drama
Four by Andy Jones – the complex relationships of two couples
Waiting for Saturday by Catherine Morrison – leaving a coercive relationship and finding true love
Gone by Min Kym – a romance between a girl and her violin
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary – a quirky rom com
The Land Where Lemons Grow by Helena Attlee – a passionate affair with citrus fruits!
Little Women by Louisa M Alcott – Jo and Laurie, Meg and John, Amy and Laurie, Jo and Professor Bhaer…
Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding – the pressures of being a single woman in the 1990s
The One by John Marrs – in this thriller, you can be genetically matched with your soulmate
The Bachelor by Stella Gibbons – a charming novel set during the Second World War
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