Love Is In The Air

Grab a coffee, sit down and get ready for some romantic recommendations that aren’t romance. The only Valentine's day list you'll need.

You're not gonna find any Nicholas Sparks novels here (although don't get us wrong we've read them all.)

Nat: Ok, I need to be honest right now… I hate ‘romance’ books. If it can be found on a Goodreads romance list - I’m not into it.

Laura: But we love a ‘love story’...

Nat: Oh we live for a ‘love story’.

Laura: I’m sure we are making no sense right now. Where do we begin?

Nat: We’re not talking about books written just to make you feel lonely on Valentine's day. Or books that make you wish your partner would kiss you in the rain. We’re talking about GOOD books that just happen to have a love story in them.

Laura: Exactly! Books that you begin reading and then all of a sudden, it's 3am and you're crying in the kitchen because you’ve fallen deeply in love only to then have your heart broken by the ending.

Nat: I think that’s enough of an introduction don’t you? Let’s get on with the list!

Natalie's Picks

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

• Don’t underestimate this book off as just a silly YA book. I don’t care how old you are - this book will burrow itself deep in your heart. I read this book as an adult and I actually made Laura read it too! Even though that was about 6 years ago, I still think about this love story. What Rowell does that makes this book stand out in my mind is she picks two characters that we don't normally see in protagonist roles. A ginger girl and an asian boy. The bond that they form over through the use of mix tapes is just too sweet for anyone to handle.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

• If you know me at all, then you know my obsession with Outlander is real and here to say. I feel like this book has it all! Time travel, strong female characters, Scottish men in kilts, war, and a complicated love story that literally stands the test of time. I don’t think I have ever read a more husband worth character than Jamie Fraser. (Speaking of husband material, my husband actually bought me this book - isn't he cute?) Clare and Jamie are characters that you get to see through so many years and they just have a very special place in my heart.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

• I just finished this book the other day so my thoughts and feelings are nice and fresh. Let me start off by saying that the prose in this book is absolutely stunning! It’s the kind of book that makes you re-read pages because...Hurston really wanted me to have all the feelings when reading this book. Although this book is a classic I don’t think it's spoken about it enough. Unlike Outlander - where I called Jamie husband material - Tea Cake is definitely not that. The thing i love about this book is Janie’s love for Tea Cake. It just makes you believe in love yourself.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

• Ok, this one is a little different. Rebecca is giving us gothic vibes. She’s giving us murder, age gap relationship, rich man marries poor girl - and to top it all off, the ghost of the ex-wife is the name of the novel! The writing is beautiful and eerie. It's like a love story, mets murder mystery, and if you think those two things don't go together - then let Miss Daphne prove you wrong. Although one could say this book is the ‘least’ romantic out of all my picks, it definitely is an epic love story.

Laura's Picks

Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman

Well, If you haven't read this book, stop reading our blog and go read it, honestly. If ever I underlined quotes in a book, it was this one! Aciman has an absolutely beautiful way with words. Wow. Also can I just say that I think the movie adaptation is stunning. They captured the essence of the book completely, down to the colours, the location, everything. This book captured my mind and remains in my heart. It is about finding love and losing it and everything that happens in between. Complex feelings and emotions run through the pages. “If not later, when.” I could go on. I adore this book.

Normal People by Sally Rooney

• Everybody is talking about Normal People. And I suppose you could say that this is an obvious one, but this made it onto my list because of the way it made me feel. I felt comforted by this love story, wrapped up and warm. I think this is all down to Rooney and her description of emotions and feelings, and her honesty with relatable characters. I felt the pain on behalf of Marianne and Connell. It felt real to me. “Even in memory she will find this moment unbearably intense, and she's aware of this now, while it's happening. She has never believed herself fit to be loved by any person.”

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

• A love story found amongst a retelling of a greek myth?! Hell YES! The words Miller uses in this book to build tension between the two characters is stunning. I remember feeling the relationship on every page. “But drink him in. The soft movement of his lips. It was a miracle.” As Patroclus watched him sleep “beautiful yet cold as moonlight”. Does anyone else love a quote as much as I do?? The way they flirted with each other “fight me, I dare you”... I’ll leave it here with this one, I loved the love in this book.

• 
  

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

• James Baldwin captured my heart and broke it with this novel. This is a book about family, injustice, community and love. Real love, difficult, hard love. The kind of love that you have to give your soul for. “It's a miracle to realise that somebody loves you '' It is a love story yes, but it's a love story full of passion, torment and truth. James Baldwin paints for us a picture of racism and injustice as we see the two childhood lovers Tish and Fonny trying to build a life together, Tish pregnant and Fonny wrongly accused of a crime he didn't commit. All they really have is each other and they know that that is worth fighting for. It is sad and real, but also you can't help feel uplifted by their strength to protect each other and this is what broke me. “We held each other so close that we might indeed have been one body.”

Comment down below with your favourite love story book and we can chat about it!