Oh, I don't want to sound like a typical girl who only wants fairy tales, happy ever afters etc. I love all books, many of my favourites are crime and fantasy/adventure... Though lately I have been craving a love story and it seems modern writers are completely depressing when it comes to romantic novels. I ask people for a suggestion and I always get the usual Jane Austen, or old classic. I love classics but I want something new, fresh. I just don't understand why 'new' and 'fresh' has to be paired up with 'sad endings' and then people say 'well it's realistic'. To be frank, I don't give a fuck what's realistic, the reason people read books, fictions books especially, is to escape from reality. So when I search for a new refreshing romance book, I expect to find an actual romance book, with romance in it. Not a modern girl living alone in London who falls in love with an suave, well off asshole, chases him for a while and then learns to 'let go' when she realises he doesn't give a fuck. Shit, if I wanted to emerse myself in that I would just watch TV. So if tl;dr, recommend me a good romance book with actual romance in it and nice ending. I like me some cheese. :2thumbsup:
I don't think it's necessarily more realistic to have sad endings. How recent do you want the book to be? Does the book have to be strict romance, or could it be another genre, with romance central to the plot?
Romance is not all hearts and flowers and sadly reality does bite. One; as you rightly indicate should not accept this as the norm however, and there is always great satisfaction to be gained from the process and pleasure of courtship, wooing and loving care - it is just not appreciated as such. It other thing that has to be taken into consideration is, Sex, Scandal; and indeed violence and heartache sell, and when a writer wishes to capture a market for profit , it seems that adherence to a fomula is required to be 'up there' with the competition. A nice romantic tale of partnership is also real life, those it seemss to me not as attention grabbing in popularity for the reader - those books are out there, one just has to look behind the headline grabbing tales
Yes I believe both are realistic! lol. Umm anywhere from present to about 10 years ago. I don't mind as long as there's romance in it, when it is mixed in with another genre it can make it way more interesting to read. :blush5:
I hope romance is still alive, and out there somewhere. Doesn't seem to be many Real Romantic men, as most seem to be focused on the end of the evening activities. (sigh)
Oh, well.. I just read House of Leaves, which is considered a horror story, but one time at a signing a fan went up to the other and said, 'They reviews are wrong, how they describe this story. It's a love story.' The author thought for a second and said, "You're right," then continued to complain about how genres are constrictive of works. I don't think of it as a love story at all; but it's the closest book that I've read to your parameters =P
Try an Amish romance. The books are sweet and invariably have a happy ending. No explicit behavior or bad language, but those things are just undeserved screams for usually undeserved attention.
If you want romance with no HEA, I'd recommend Colleen Hoover. I don't read her myself, but apparently she does it very well.
