Bid adieu to your Monday blues and get ready for a healthy dose of romance. We’ve all been in a dissociative state since the lockdown started and are aching for a different life. While that seems impossible right now, we can always live vicariously through characters in romance novels who seem to gets into relationships that we all can only dream about. Here are a few book suggestions that will tug at your heartstrings and make you feel everything from joy to sadness.
Shopaholic & Baby
By Sophie Kinsella
Image: Instagram
Hardcore romance novels can range from light and heartwarming to deeply disturbing and dark, so much so that you need a vacation to get over them. Let’s start with the light and heartwarming kind first. Sophie Kinsella is a master of this genre. Her characters are fun, full of life, and one of a kind. Becky Bloomwood Brandon is quite a popular character from her Shopaholic series.
Written in 2007, Shopaholic & Baby is the fifth book of this series. We follow Becky along her pregnancy journey and witness how it changes her. We see her dealing with body-image issues and a rollercoaster of emotions while preparing to be a new mother. This exciting time brings Becky and her husband Luke closer than ever, and the readers are invited to tag along on the newest adventure in their lives as they wait for their new baby.
The Fault in Our Stars
By John Green
Image: Instagram
No list about romance novels is complete without The Fault in Our Stars! Written by John Green in 2013, this book continues to be deeply loved even today. It makes us ache for love as pure and innocent as Gus and Hazel's. “Okay? Okay.” has left a permanent mark in our hearts. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities and we found a forever in this book which will be cherished no matter how old we or this book gets.
Me Before You
Jojo Moyes
Image: Instagram
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, written in the year 2012, will make you step into Will Trainor’s shoes and surprise you with what you find. Lou will make you laugh and cry at the same time. You will be proud watching little Lou grow up and take on the world with the new life Trainor left behind for her. It might also give you the courage to live better. Hopefully, you won’t think about this book too often – it’s pretty clear Will doesn’t want you getting all maudlin.
The Rescue
By Nicholas Sparks
Image: Instagram
Nicholas Sparks has earned the reputation of making even the most stone-hearted readers cry. The Rescue is a typical Sparks novel that transports you into his world of romance. Denise Holton is a single mother trying to make ends meet to provide for her four-year-old son Kyle, who has severe learning disabilities. Taylor McAden is a volunteer firefighter with a saviour complex. He latches onto anyone who he thinks might need help and later moves on to another person. He tries to save Holton, but doesn’t realise that Kyle is getting attached to him. Sparks ventures deep into every character’s psychology and childhood trauma, and shows us how they try to overcome that to live a better life.
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
By Lesley Walton
Image: Instagram
The women of the Roux family suffer from a curse of ‘foolish love’. Whoever they love either disappears or dies. The same misfortune continues to befall their family with Ava’s grandmother and mother, until Ava decides to break this generational cycle and grow through the pain she goes through. Ava and her mother learn to accept healthy love that holds their hands and stays with them. This book is written in lyrical prose, almost sounding like poetry, which is what makes it extraordinary.
Also Read: 8 Must-Read Novels to Add to Your Reading List
Shopaholic & Baby
By Sophie Kinsella
Hardcore romance novels can range from light and heartwarming to deeply disturbing and dark, so much so that you need a vacation to get over them. Let’s start with the light and heartwarming kind first. Sophie Kinsella is a master of this genre. Her characters are fun, full of life, and one of a kind. Becky Bloomwood Brandon is quite a popular character from her Shopaholic series.
Written in 2007, Shopaholic & Baby is the fifth book of this series. We follow Becky along her pregnancy journey and witness how it changes her. We see her dealing with body-image issues and a rollercoaster of emotions while preparing to be a new mother. This exciting time brings Becky and her husband Luke closer than ever, and the readers are invited to tag along on the newest adventure in their lives as they wait for their new baby.
The Fault in Our Stars
By John Green
No list about romance novels is complete without The Fault in Our Stars! Written by John Green in 2013, this book continues to be deeply loved even today. It makes us ache for love as pure and innocent as Gus and Hazel's. “Okay? Okay.” has left a permanent mark in our hearts. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities and we found a forever in this book which will be cherished no matter how old we or this book gets.
Me Before You
Jojo Moyes
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, written in the year 2012, will make you step into Will Trainor’s shoes and surprise you with what you find. Lou will make you laugh and cry at the same time. You will be proud watching little Lou grow up and take on the world with the new life Trainor left behind for her. It might also give you the courage to live better. Hopefully, you won’t think about this book too often – it’s pretty clear Will doesn’t want you getting all maudlin.
The Rescue
By Nicholas Sparks
Nicholas Sparks has earned the reputation of making even the most stone-hearted readers cry. The Rescue is a typical Sparks novel that transports you into his world of romance. Denise Holton is a single mother trying to make ends meet to provide for her four-year-old son Kyle, who has severe learning disabilities. Taylor McAden is a volunteer firefighter with a saviour complex. He latches onto anyone who he thinks might need help and later moves on to another person. He tries to save Holton, but doesn’t realise that Kyle is getting attached to him. Sparks ventures deep into every character’s psychology and childhood trauma, and shows us how they try to overcome that to live a better life.
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
By Lesley Walton
The women of the Roux family suffer from a curse of ‘foolish love’. Whoever they love either disappears or dies. The same misfortune continues to befall their family with Ava’s grandmother and mother, until Ava decides to break this generational cycle and grow through the pain she goes through. Ava and her mother learn to accept healthy love that holds their hands and stays with them. This book is written in lyrical prose, almost sounding like poetry, which is what makes it extraordinary.
Also Read: 8 Must-Read Novels to Add to Your Reading List
Next Story