Let me tell you a love story. Quiet, bookish, writer girl meets quiet, leather-jacket-wearing country boy. During the months (and years) that follow, they spend time together, go camping, ride dirt-bikes, go target-shooting, watch movies, travel to the beach, and spend lazy Sunday afternoons cuddled up on the couch, watching Food Network. They discuss love and life and politics and religion. They cook together, cry together and laugh together.
And then, one day, near the end of a long, hot, summer, the boy and the girl pad the back of his big, red pickup truck with blankets and pillows, watching the stars. That's when the boy asks the girl to marry him, and he gives her a sparkling diamond ring in response to her resounding, "YES, OF COURSE!"
*CUE HAPPY MUSIC*
I'll make him famous yet. * wink*
That little love story is my own, and I'm currently planning my own wedding and life with the guy who has been not only my best friend, but my greatest supporter and encourager. What can I say? He's the love of my life, and I'm honored and overjoyed to be able to look forward to marrying him later this year!But wait. There is a point to all of this romantic mushiness! This Valentine's Day, I'm reflecting on not just the love in my own life, but the love stories we find in literature. I've been positively obsessed with the romance stowed away in books since before I can even remember. Here are my favorite love stories of all time from the world of writing.
from Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
I could write a whole book about how much I love and adore the writing of Charlotte Bronte. The romance between Jane and the mysterious (and goodness gracious, MUCH OLDER) Mr. Rochester is powerful, intense and - dare I say it - even a little bit scandalous? Jane Eyre has been my favorite classic novel of all time since I read it as a young teenager, and I still think those two unorthodox lovebirds have one of the best romances ever written.
from The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare
I'm going to throw it way, way back here and admit freely that I was a fanatical, border-line obsessive Clary/Jace shipper in my high school days. I loved these two together. Clary was funny and independent, Jace was perfect and incredibly sarcastic - I laughed out loud at his humor on multiple occasions. Still one of my favorite romances of all time.
from Divergent, by Veronica Roth
I know, I know. This one isn't exactly unknown. Everybody pretty much loves Four and Tris. I think their love story in the first book is pretty much the hottest event ever, and when I was a sixteen year-old Junior, I had a major crush on Four myself. (I freely admit this) To me, this will always remain a major event in my literary-loving-life, and although I DID NOT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM, get the ending I wanted in the series, I still love their romance.
from Tiger's Curse, by Colleen Houck
This book is one of the very few in my life (minus Jane Eyre, of course) that I have actually re-read several times. I have always been in love with Indian culture, traditions and cuisine, so I gravitated toward these books when I was about 15-16 originally. Kelsey falls in love with a gorgeous Indian prince with a curse, Ren. But I always shipped her with Kishan, because he was the bad boy, and I was in a bad boy phase...and I kind of still am. Just saying. *swoon*
from Half-Blood, by Jennifer L. Armentrout
I remember when I read this book. On Christmas day, years ago, when I still lived in Sacramento. It was one of Jennifer's earlier books, and I remember doing an interview with her about the novel. I fell in love with the book (and series) because of Alex's incredible wit and razor-sharp one-liners. Plus, the whole falling-in-love-with-your-savage-instructor thing was very reminiscent of Divergent, so I dug it. Still do.
from Vampire Academy by Rachelle Mead
I have no words. All I can is that today is a serious high school throwback post. I apologize in advance for all of the plots that involve teen girls falling in love with their muscular ninja masters. I checked all of these books out from the library (the original series) and was obsessed with the romance between Rose and Dimitri. It was SMOKING. I felt like it was definitely more suitable for adults than young teens, too. But that's just me.
from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I really, really hope I wouldn't need to explain this amazing story to you - because hopefully everybody on the planet has experienced its wonderful enchanting plot by now. I seriously ship Daisy and Gatsby together, and although the movie version of this genius piece of classic literature wasn't exactly what I had envisioned, it was still really fun - and the soundtrack rocked.
from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I cried multiple times while reading this book. I cried way more reading the book than I did while watching the movie. That's a well-written book, people. The romance of Hazel Grace and Augustus, although tragic, is beautiful and poignant and touching. If you haven't gotten on the John Green bandwagon yet, please don't waste any time and go ahead and jump on now.
That is my list for swoon-worthy couples this Valentine's Day. Trust me, I EASILY could have kept going, but I didn't want to crash the entire internet. That would be bad.
I will check it later with more Valentine's posts and articles. Until then...go fall in love, be it with a significant other or a bar of chocolate. Either works fine. I approve highly of both. * wink *
