Top Ten Tuesday (February 12) – Favorite Romances

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!

Today’s topic is fun and appropriate for those of you who celebrate Valentine’s Day. If you don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, either because your are Valentine-less or because you’re jaded or because you think it’s a stupid holiday, then I guess it’s no more appropriate than any other topic.

No judging. When I was in college, my friends and I used to dress in all black on Valentine’s Day because we were so Above It All. So if it’s not your thing, I get it.

Truthfully, I don’t think my husband and I are doing anything for Valentine’s Day this year either. Not Making a Statement, just…no plans. DOCTOR WHO IT IS.

Anyway. I’m getting off topic.

This week’s topic is:

My Top Ten Favorite Romances

I’m going to assume this is referring to the couples themselves, and not to actual romance novels, since I don’t read romance novels. So here we go (again, in no particular order, because I suck at particular orders):

Ron and Hermione, Harry Potter. I love their friendship. I love that they have had Feelings for each other for years, but that wasn’t their main concern in life. There were bigger things happening, like Voldemort. But there was always this underlying, intangible thing between them, that of course was finally realized in the last book.

Anna and Etienne, Anna and the French Kiss. I don’t read a lot of contemporary romance, at all, but I was totally sucked in by this one. Their relationship was sweet and fun and gave me the heart flutters.

Elisa and Hector, The Crown of Embers. My biggest problem with the first book in this series, The Girl of Fire and Thorns, was the lack of Hector. So when he was front and center in this book, I was a happy camper. Their slow-burn romance gave me chills. Serious. Chills.

Kaleb and Lily, Timepiece. I loved Michael and Emerson in Hourglass, but Kaleb and Lily in Timepiece were just perfection. Their romance was fun and quippy and shivery-in-a-good-way. I loved every second of them together, even before they were together.

Claire and Jamie, Outlander. As far as male leads go, it just does not get any better than Jamie Fraser, pretty much ever. Their romance felt so deep and passionate and real. Even when Claire was still sorting out her feelings for him, just reading about how Jamie interacted with Claire was enough for me to feel All The Feelings.

Echo and Noah, Pushing the Limits. Another contemporary romance. The kind I keep saying I don’t read. What can I say, people keep recommending good books! I will admit that some of the things that come out of Noah’s mouth kind of ooze cheese, but I don’t care. I love him and I love Echo and I love them together. They’re the perfect compliment to each other. (And if the sequel, Dare You To, was out yet, I’d put Beth and Ryan on this list too, because they deserve it. But you probably haven’t read that book yet, so I’ll just say — read it. If you loved PTL, you’ll love this one too.)

Anne and Gilbert, Anne of Green Gables (the whole series). I’m a sucker for stories where the love interests grow up together. I love that Anne and Gilbert start out as childhood rivals. I love that their rivalry slowly evolves into friendship, which evolves into romance. I love that he calls her Carrots and pulls her pigtails and gives up his teaching position so that she can stay home.

Gus and Hazel, The Fault in Our Stars. I think I’ve mentioned before how this book utterly destroyed me, and also how, despite the criticisms I’ve heard saying that Gus and Hazel don’t talk like real kids, they actually talked pretty much exactly like some of my friends from high school. So they were incredibly real to me, and their relationship was so sweet in the midst of so much sadness. It ripped my heart out, but I loved it.

Wanda and Ian, The Host. I would never put Bella and Edward on this list, but I felt like this book came much closer to getting a relationship right. I loved Ian and how he could see Wanda so clearly, when no one else could. And I loved how she learned to trust him, even though it went against her nature to do it. Also, for the record, I am super excited about this movie.

Samantha and Kent, Before I Fall. Their slowly evolving one-day romance made this book for me. Sam’s spiteful and shallow friends and some of her poor decision making just made me want to slap them all, but her growing feelings for Kent, and the way he always saw the best in her, even though she’d given him no reason to, are why I love this story.

Honorable mentions to: Every Jane Austen romance ever (especially Elizabeth and Darcy, and Elinor and Edward), Westley and Buttercup, Jane and Rochester, Jo and Laurie (yes, I know they didn’t wind up together, but I still love them), Christy and Doctor MacNeil, Clare and Henry, and Katniss and Peeta. All romances I loved and was super-invested in, but ultimately, didn’t make me feel quite as much as the ones above. (Going totally on books here. In the movies, Jane Austen always wins for Fluttery Feels.)

How about you? What couples make your heart go pitter-patter?