Saturday, February 13, 2016

V-Day Recs for Non-Romantics

So tomorrow is Valentine's Day, which, like Halloween, is the kind of "holiday" that gives me a valid reason to eat copious amounts of chocolate. XD

I've never been a big romance reader; sometimes I think my brain is too wired for logic. It takes the right kind of book to move this icy, stony heart and make it swoooon. I think a lot of us are completely over insta-love, love geometry (triangles, squares, octagons, etc.), and other romantic tropes in books. I'm always very wary of books in which the romance is very prominent and won't pick them up unless I've first seen that other blogger friends have enjoyed reading them.

There are, however, a few books/series that I recommend unequivocally, even if romance isn't necessarily your thing:

  • Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion by Jane Austen: Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy! Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth! Two of my literary couples ever! The sparks fly between Lizzy and Darcy from the very start, and Anne and Wentworth's reunion is one of the most poignant love stories I've ever read.
  • The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater: Sam and Grace's EPIC love totally floored me and made this soulmates skeptic believe that such a thing just might be possible, at least in fiction, lol. And Cole and Isabel's combustible chemistry just launched this series into the stratosphere for me.
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: Oh. My. God. The slow-burning romance in this one is simply exquisite. No surprise there, though, because it's SJM!
  • Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: It took reading a ton of positive reviews on Goodreads to convince me to read this a few years ago, but I recommend it now without hesitation. A sweet but not cloying story, a beautiful Paris setting, and the charm of Étienne St. Clair (no relation to Cole St. Clair, haha!) all won me over.
  • The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare: I make no secret about how much I LOVE this series, and I don't say the following lightly: it's the best love triangle I've ever read about. Can three people possibly all love each other? Yes, yes they can.

Have you read any of these? Are there any other books you'd recommend? And Happy Valentine's Day- love you guys! ♥♥♥

4 comments:

  1. I just wish we could replace Valentine's Day with a second Halloween XD In any case, you KNOW I agree with you on Wolves of Mercy Falls AND ACOTAR. That being said, I'm determined to read some Austen and give Clare another chance by reading TID - especially knowing how much you love them! I'd add The Raven Cycle to your list and probably ToG :) I hope you spend your day smothered in chocolates and snuggled with a good book ♥ xx

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    1. A second Halloween sounds perfect to me, too, LOL! And TRC and ToG definitely need to be on the list! The plan is to spend today reading and eating chocolate, lol- hope your day is just as relaxing! ♥

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  2. A Valentine Woodstock :D I agree about Pride and Prejudice for sure. I'm not into romantic stories or classics, but I just love that one. I haven't read aCoTaR yet, but I really enjoy the slow burning romances so I bet that I'll really enjoy that one. I hope you had a great Valentine's with tons of chocolate :D

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    1. Hope you had a great V-Day, too! :D I think you'll love ACoTaR- the development of the romance is just so, so perfect!

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