In honor of Valentine’s Day (which I actually, hate, by the way. Not because of anything romantic, but because it never fails that I’m sick on the actual day, which seems like some sort of weird plague) I decided to look through my kindle on my favorites shelf and post my top five favorite romantic books. That way, in case you’re sick like me, you can stay in bed and sip some hot chocolate and get wrapped up in someone else’s love story. I’ll actually be reading Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler and writing a paper on it, so I’m pretty jealous of anyone reading the following books today. I’ll link the titles to their Goodreads pages so you can decide for yourself which one you’d most like to check out!
5. The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
Normally, I’m not a huge fan of anything with Harlequin anywhere in the name or on the cover. They’re just far too cheesy for me. I really liked this book because it’s a twist on Greek Mythology and involves two of my favorite Gods, Hades and Persephone. Greek Mythology and romance… does it get better? Because it’s Harlequin, it is a bit cheesy at times, but hey, it’s Valentine’s Day. That’s what it’s all about, right?
Sequels: Goddess Interrupted, Goddess Inheritance (and other half novellas)
Rating: 4/5
Other notes: If you like this one, also check out Destined by Jessie Harrell for a re-telling of Cupid and Psyche!
4. Angelfall by Susan Ee
I wasn’t very into the whole “fallen angels” trend, and never thought I’d get on that boat until I read this book. It’s very dystopian meets fantasy, and I literally read it all in one sitting (and stayed up all night) because I couldn’t put it down. It’s hard for me to like a book when I really dislike the main character’s name, and Penryn had me concerned from the start, but by page six, it didn’t really matter anymore. There’s more of an undercurrent of romance in this book than outright and expressed, which I actually think works perfectly in the context because it continually leaves you wondering what’s going to happen next.
Sequels: Not published yet, but you can sign up for the release notification of Susan’s website.
Rating: 4/5
Other notes: Apparently a fan designed the cover for her, which is really cool!
3. Slammed by Colleen Hoover
I have no words for this book. I read the description on Goodreads and Amazon, and read some reviews, and I just wasn’t sure how this book could be as great as everyone said it was. It was better. I read Slammed and Point of Retreat both in one day, which led to me sitting my room in silence for the entire day, barely coming out to eat, which caused my parents and friends to wonder whether I was alive or not. I had been looking for a book like this one for a LONG time, and I think the world has a great shortage of contemporary romance novels that are believable and real, and this one covers all the bases. I know that if I’m crying at the end of the book, it’s earned five stars from me. I also reviewed this book in more detail here.
Sequels: Point of Retreat
Rating: 5/5
Other notes: Will Cooper. Seriously. Be real.
2. Significance by Shelly Crane
I’m obsessed with this book series. It was something I picked up in the kindle store off of a recommendation from another book I had recently read. It was 99 cents and sounded like a good concept from the description, so I figured I didn’t have anything to lose by trying it out. I would be missing out on so many things had I not clicked “Buy now” that day. The earliest versions for a little bit nitty gritty because Shelly is a self published author who decided to write because her stories are the sort of thing that she wanted to read, but couldn’t find. I am so, so beyond happy that she did. Significance recently got picked up to become a movie! I’m going to have the honor of being an extra in the movie and attending the premiere, and you can too! Read more about that here.
Sequels: Accordance, Defiance, Reverence, Independence
Rating: 5/5
Other notes: My favorite cover models, Pepe Toth and Sztella Tziotziosz are on the cover! They are legitimately a romance novel all on their own.
And finally… drum roll please…
1. Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
I hope that it’s clear that I’m obsessed with Colleen Hoover. She’s an indie author who has skyrocketed (kind of like Amanda Hocking) with Slammed, Hopeless, and some amazing luck and marketing strategies. She’s really someone that I look up to in the publishing/writing world. This book was the first that I read of hers, and because I loved it so much, I decided to read Slammed because I couldn’t get enough of her writing. When I read the description for Hopeless, my reaction was sort of “meh”. It doesn’t do the book justice AT ALL, and I’m glad that I took a chance on it, because it’s now one of my all time favorites. I’m always that person who can guess the ending of a movie or a book and everyone is like “JUST SHUT UP AND LET US FIGURE IT OUT”. On this one, I could NEVER have seen the twists, which made me love it even more.
Sequels: None that are published yet, but you can check Colleen’s website for updates! (And follow her, she has a WordPress! She’s just like us! Yay!)
Rating: 6/5 (I’m cheating, but I don’t care, it deserves it)
Other Notes: Colleen favorited my tweet. My life is complete.
Well, that’s all I’ve got for this Valentine’s Day. I could go on and on, so here are some honorable mentions that you might want to check out if nothing above struck your fancy:
The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski (4/5)
Delirium by Lauren Oliver (4/5)
Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks (I’m probably a terrible person for not including a Nicholas Sparks book in my favorites, but you can go see the movie for this one because it came out TODAY) (4/5)
Up In Flames by Nicole Williams (4/5)
And if you’re looking for probably the best written romance not in a “romance” novel, try my favorite book of all time:
Sabriel by Garth Nix (10/5)
Happy Reading!
