Love in the air

The giveaway winners are Jon, for THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING, and Mari, for A THREAD OF SKY. I’ll contact you shortly for mailing addresses. Thanks to everyone who entered, and congrats to Jon and Mari!

I’ve been in a romance mood lately. Maybe because when I was back in Houston a couple weeks ago, I reread a bunch of my favorite Nora Roberts books. Maybe because I’m in the middle of some intense action/fight scenes in my own manuscript, so I’m looking for a contrast. Or maybe because my Hollywood boyfriend Michael Fassbender has a new movie out today, and he looks/sounds positively scrumptious in it!

(I’m trying to convince my real life boyfriend to go see the movie with me. He says it depends on the Rotten Tomatoes score.)

Whatever the reason, I’ve been looking for some good, tingle-inducing love stories to read. I picked up PERFECT CHEMISTRY by Simone Elkeles a couple days ago, since Amazon had it on sale as part of their “Sunshine Deals” for Kindle. I’ve also got a Lurlene McDaniel book that I won in a giveaway, and though the cover looks like a super-cheesy adult Romance title, it’s actually about a teenage girl with a brain tumor. (Who falls in love with a fellow patient, so it still fits the bill.)

Do y’all have any other recommendations for a good love story? Something sweeping and powerful. Something that should be made into a movie starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling. Something that will make me hit Andy on the shoulder and say, “Why can’t you be more like {insert name of the hero here}?”


19 responses to “Love in the air”

  1. Anthony Lee Collins Avatar

    “Or maybe because my Hollywood boyfriend Michael Fassbender has a new movie out today, and he looks/sounds positively scrumptious in it!”

    For my taste, I wouldn’t rush to see it. Fassbender is good, Kevin Bacon is very good, it’s very long, it rehashes a lot of points from the earlier movies, Emma Frost is a huge disappointment, and the cast in general is a big comedown from the earlier ones (though there is a funny cameo, which I won’t reveal — it got the biggest reaction in the theater).

    That being said, it’s quite entertaining (it’s not a disaster like Daredevil), but it’s nothing special. And it’s long. And if you’re looking for romance, it is pretty much 100% romance-free.

    Considering that it was directed by the guy who directed Kick-Ass, I’d say it was a disappointment.

  2. RenaissanceTrophyWife Avatar

    Somehow no romances are coming to mind, but if you want your heart broken before it’s put back together, I vote for “Of Human Bondage” and “This Side of Paradise”.

    BTW read “The French Kiss” and loved the Canadian flag reference! How adorable. Thanks for the rec. :)

  3. Rachele Alpine Avatar

    How did I not know about the sunshine deals!?! I love it! I already bought three books and will probably do some more damage. I used to love Lurlene McDaniel when I was in high school. All her books are about some teenage girl dying and in love. They are so depressing but so good!

    I highly recommend “Anna and the French Kiss” if you want a fun romance!

    Also, have you read “The Help?” It’s not a romance, but a must read. A MUST read! So good!

  4. Julia Avatar

    “Love Walked In” is a lovely, modern romance. Of course, anything by Jane Austen, since all she wrote are romances. Also, anything by Marian Keyes has, if not lots of romance, at least a romantic side plot. I might start with “Sushi for Beginners.”

  5. Kristan Avatar

    Anthony-
    Hehe, well, in spite of your warnings, I went to see it last night. I didn’t LOVE it, but I did love Fassbender and McAvoy. I’m not sure why you were so disappointed in the cast… they weren’t big names, but I thought they did well. And YES OMG the cameos (I counted 2 good ones) were hilarious/fantastic. I’m going to blog more about the movie/X-Men in general next week, but overall, like you I thought it was entertaining, in spite of a needlessly complex bad guy storyline. (But that’s pretty much a comic thing. I mean, reading over the Wikipedia pages for X-Men is like deciphering another language.)

    RTW-
    Yay I’m glad you liked ANNA! Thanks for the reccos!

    Rachele-
    Lol those Sunshine Deals are dangerous. I hope they’re successful, though, so that publishers will continue to experiment with low-price specials. I finished the Lurlene McDaniel book today and really liked it, despite the tragedies. And yes, ANNA is great! I read it back in Dec or Jan. Now I’m waiting for LOLA!! Haven’t read THE HELP yet, but I really want to!

    Julia-
    Thanks for the reccos! I’ve heard good things about both Marian Keyes and Marisa de los Santos, so I’ll definitely check those out.

  6. Sonje Avatar

    Hmmm…. sweeping and powerful romance? I can’t think of any of those that you haven’t already read! I can think of a couple of smutty lesbian romance novels, but I suspect that’s not exactly what you had in mind LOL.

    The only other book that comes right to mind (again, excluding those I know you’ve already read) and when I think of the romantic storyline being central, is “Like,” by Ali Smith. It’s one of my favorite all time novels, but it is definitely literature (as opposed to general fiction). I would not describe it as “sweeping” though. I kind of don’t think it’s what you’re looking for.

    I guess this is my long way of saying, “Can’t help you, but good luck with that.” :)

  7. Pseudo Avatar

    I love the image of you hitting Andy on the shoulder like that.

    And I’ll get back to you if I think of something… I read romance a lot as a teen and it set me up for some very unrealistic expectations. I do remember my favorite was The Flame and The Flower ; -)

  8. T. S. Bazelli Avatar

    Outlander by Diana Gabaldon… seriously, much hitting E on the shoulder after that read! LOL It is a historical though. Not sure if you’re into that, but I found it seriously good fun.

  9. Shari Avatar

    Have you read Nora Roberts’ Bride Quartet series? They are quintessential romances :)

  10. Kristan Avatar

    Sonje-
    I DO have LIKE on my TBR list! I will get there someday! And you can believe me now, since I FINALLY read THE EYRE AFFAIR. (Although I need to get back to books 3 and 4…)

    Pseudo-
    “I read romance a lot as a teen and it set me up for some very unrealistic expectations.”

    Lol ditto. Some of those expectations were good, some were bad. So I guess I can’t be sad that all of them didn’t come true.

    T.S.-
    Ooo, I hear so many good things about her books! That one in particular. Will add to my list. :)

    Shari-
    No, I haven’t, but you and I seem to have very similar tastes in this arena, so I’ll get on it! I’m already such a big NR fan anyway. I also have been thinking about starting the Death In series, but I hear it’s addictive…

  11. Sarah Avatar

    I saw X-Men at the Drive-In. I have to agree with your other commenter that Emma Frost was disappointing and I think the cast wasn’t as stand-out as the other films. I did like McAvoy and Fassbender (although he’s much more lovely as Rochester). I was also overly excited about Banshee because he is one of my favs.
    I don’t have any good romance recc’s. I’m sorry. It’s all “dark” and vampires in the YA section, anyway. ;)

  12. Kristan Avatar

    LOL oh Sarah, you crack me up.

    Hmm, I must not have been that familiar with Emma Frost from the comics, b/c I thought she was fine in the movie… But then, I came to X-Men in the late 80s (i.e, THE HEYDEY) so I’m more familiar with the characters from the first movies.

  13. Anthony Lee Collins Avatar

    Emma Frost is a wonderful character (in the right hands). I actually have a character who is partially based on her amd partly on Angelique from Dark Shadows (who will be portrayed by Eva Green in just about a year — I have high hopes for that).

    I don’t want to give anything away to those who didn’t see it, but I was sure the “my drink needs ice” bit was going to lead to some kind of payback, but it was dropped.

    Kristan: I look forward to the blog post. I long ago lost track of all the x-doings (and I started with issue #1 back in 1965 or so). Ny disappointment in the cast was just in comparison to McKellan, Stewart, Jackman, Paquin, Janssen, Berry, and Romijn. And in comparison to Kick-Ass.

    Oh, and I saw the trailer for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and I thought, “Hey, this looks a lot like a movie I’ve seen already. :-)

  14. Mari Passananti Avatar

    The map of love by ahdaf soueif… There is a daunting family tree in the beginning, to which I had to refer more than a couple of times, but so worth it.

  15. Kristan Avatar

    Anthony-
    AH, yes, in that sense I can see what you’re saying. I totally didn’t understand why she (or Azazel, really) would kowtow to Shaw.

    Don’t hold your breath for my blog post! It’s not going to be comprehensive. Just a personal take on X-Men.

    And yeah, the trailer for Dragon Tattoo… Bah, I didn’t know how to feel. I didn’t really like the book, but the trailer had appeal. (I won’t go see it though.)

    Mari-
    Thanks for the recco! It looks wonderful.

  16. Les Avatar

    Don’t have a clue, but I now have a bunch of books to add to my list! lol.

  17. Joelle Avatar

    Romance…romance…the only ones I can recommend are of the paranormal with delicious sex scenes in them. Some good naughty romps, and a contemporary women’s fiction (a.k.a. chic-lit) Lol. Well maybe it’s due to me having attended a romance based reader author get together this past weekend. Chosen by Blood – Virna DePaul (yeah it’s vampy), You Dropped a Blonde on me- Dakota Cassidy. Dark Enchantment – Anya Bast. ;)

  18. Sherrie Petersen Avatar

    I love Perfect Chemistry. SUCH a good book. I also adored the romance in The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. Some of the best romance scenes are in the Cassandra Clare books (City of Bones, City of Glass, City of Ashes), even though they aren’t romance books. And Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater, those pages are just dripping with longing :)

  19. Kristan Avatar

    Oh, thanks for the reccos!

    Sherrie-
    I’m waiting to get THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE from my crit partners. We’re sharing it around. :))