I am jealous because Kristie has a very excellent and complete list of her top 100 romances of all time. I could only come up with 50 and to be honest, after my top 20 I just listed the books that have had a lasting memory for me. This is really hard to come up with my ultimte books list. My top ten were easy to come by, but after that I had to look on my bookshelf, go to websites for direction and check old lists... Well, you get the point!
On my My Space blog last week, I listed my top ten and why they are listed that way and what each book meant to me, but here I give you my top 50 romances. My top ten may surprise some because the majority of those books are written before 1950.
Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
Jane Eyre- Charlotte Brontë
Gone With the Wind- Margaret Mitchell
The Bronze Horseman- Paulina Simons
Tatiana and Alexander- Paulina Simons
The Passion- Donna Boyd
A Long Fatal Love Chase- Louisa May Alcott
A Rose at Midnight- Anne Stuart
The Hunchback of Notre Dame- Victor Hugo
Phantom of the Opera- Gaston Leroux
Lord of Scoundrels- Loretta Chase
All Through the Night- Connie Brockway
Flowers from the Storm- Laura Kinsale
Annie’s Song- Catherine Anderson
Suddenly You- Lisa Kleypas
Dreaming of You- Lisa Kleypas
Winter Garden- Adele Ashworth
Once in a Blue Moon- Penelope Williamson
The Warlord- Elizabeth Elliott
Lady Sophia’s Lover- Julia Kleypas
Everything and the Moon- Julia Quinn
Darkling I Listen- Katherine Sutcliffe
Where Dreams Begin- Lisa Kleypas
Dancing at Midnight- Julia Quinn
Honor’s Splendor- Julie Garwood
The Prize- Julie Garwood
Saving Grace- Julie Garwood
Lion’s Lady- Julie Garwood
Guardian Angel- Julie Garwood
The Wedding- Julie Garwood
Then You Came- Lisa Kleypas
Kingdom of Dreams- Judith McNaught
Hummingbird- LaVyrle Spencer
Demon Angel- Meljean Brook
Demon Moon- Meljean Brook
Phantom Waltz- Catherine Anderson
Lightning That Lingers- Sharon and Tom Curtis
Sleeping Beauty- Judith Ivory
Cry No More- Linda Howard
One Summer- Karen Robards
Seduction by Design- Sandra Brown
Fanta C- Sandra Brown
Naked in Death- JD Robb
Lover Eternal- JR Ward
The Real Deal- Lucy Monroe
Open Season- Linda Howard
Catherine- Anya Seton
Outlander- Diana Gabaldon
Dragonfly in Amber- Diana Gabaldon
Courting Miss Hattie- Pamela Morsi
My top three all have individual stories on why I picked them and it took me awhile to decide what numbers they should be because they mean so much to me and I read all those books before I was eighteen.
Wuthering Heights is my ultimate romance. Catherine is my name, just like Cathy and to this day every hero pales in comparison to Heathcliffe. (Sorry Derek!)
Jane Eyre was read my Junior year of high school. Between this book and Wuthering Heights, I had re-read each more times than I can count. I wanted to be Jane. She is the perfect example of girl power and what a true heroine should be.
Gone with the Wind was almost my number one read. By the time I was thirteen I hated to read, so much to the point my parents were worried about me. It has been a tradition in my family from my great-grandmother for each daughter to read Gone with the Wind. My mother simply asked me to sit down and read this book and than she wouldn't bother me anymore. Three days later, I devoured those pages and asked for more!
And if I have a daughter, I will do the same. :)
Katiebabs
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3 comments:
I read all three of those when I was about 14 or 15 and I think JE and WH both have shaped my reading habits today. I still love dark stories with dark heros. That's such a cute story about how your mother got you to read. Smart mom. Whatever it takes to instill a lifelong habit of reading is worth it.
You do have a lot of classics don't you *g*. I've read some of them, but not the real big ones like Jane Eyre.
And I like seeing One Summer on so many lists. Oddly enough for me, it's not a 5 out of 5er because I wasn't that impressed with the mystery aspect of it. But the love story between Johnny and Rachel makes up for it!
I have to admit that the Orson Welles movie version of Jane Eyre had more of an impact on my young psyche than did the book (which I read much later in my teens). I found that old black and white film to be extremely romantic in the sense that it really evoked emotion and mystery.
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