February 12, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favourite Romances

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a Top Ten list that they answer and invite every blogger to share their own answers.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is about our favourite romances. Some of my Top Ten Favourite Romances will come as no surprise, if you have read the Top Ten Settings I'd Like To See More Of. Also,  there are some romances that might not be everybody's cup of tea,  but I would be happy to hear different opinions. So, do not hold back! And, here we go:

This post might contain SPOILERS; so, consider yourself warned!
  1. Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe from Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
  2. Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (1987)
    Ok, I probably should stop repeating it, but the Anne of Green Gables series is the ultimate book series in my opinion. So, if I could take only one book with me to a deserted island, it would be Anne of the Island. Also, it is my firm belief that enduring love is always based on friendship. And, that’s what is happening here: Even though Gilbert’s feelings for Anne show themselves very early in the series, she doesn’t recognize her deep love for Gilbert until much later. Hence, Gilbert is forced to settle for being friends with Anne for the time being. But, his patience bears fruits in the end.

  3. Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  4. Pride and Prejudice (1995)
    As a confessed Janeite, of course I have to mention my favourite romantic relationships from Jane Austen’s novels. I love the story of Elizabeth and Darcy because it keeps reminding me how stupid men and women, we all, are sometimes when looking for Mrs or Mr Right. We all have prejudices of some kind that we might not even be aware of and they often prevent us from recognizing the one under our noses. Thank God (or rather Jane Austen), Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam have been spared a life full of regrets.

  5. Emma Wodehouse and George Knightley from Emma by Jane Austen
  6. Emma (1996)
    In real life I have somehow often been attracted to older men, maybe that’s why I’m a big fan of Emma and Knightley’s romantic story. Also, I think that Emma is a spoiled girl and needs someone who does not get carried away with everything that she does or says. In other words, she needs someone who does not flatter her endlessly and who doesn’t swoon over her, unless she behaves as a mature and gentle woman.

  7. Bridget Jones and Marc Darcy from Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
  8. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)
    Being a Janeite, also Bridget and Mark’s story is dear to my heart, of course. I cannot add much to what I said above about Elizabeth and Darcy’s story except that, girls and boys, sometimes you should listen to your mothers, especially in love matters, because they know it better!

  9. Judy Abbott and Jervis Pendleton from Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
  10. Daddy-Long-Legs (1990)
    Judy and Jervis were made for each other, there’s no doubt about it, even if they doesn’t belong to the same social class. They have a similar literary taste, they both love to be in nature and they are of the same opinion as regards politics and how life should be lived. What else could one wish for in a love relationship?

  11. Jo March and Friedrich Bhaer from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  12. Little Women (1994)
    That the love between Jo and Fritz is a favourite romance with me might come as surprise to many of you, as many, who have read Little Women, wish that Jo and Teddy had gotten together. By contrast, I am convinced that Jo and Teddy wouldn’t be a good match. Jo has always been more mature as Teddy and she needs someone who is on a par with her and not someone whom she can patronize. Moreover, Teddy seems to me a very ordinary boy, which fact is of course not a bad thing in itself, but an extraordinary woman such as Jo needs an extraordinary man.

  13. Françoise Fadet and Sylvinet Barbeau from Fadette by George Sand
  14. La petite Fadette (2004)
    As I explained in my review of Fadette, I love this novel precisely because the romance between Fadette and Sylvinet isn’t the usual fairy tale. Fadette is not the beauty of the town, even though Sylvinet is Monsieur Handsome. In addition, as in case of Anne and Gilbert, the two first become friends only, and Fadette and Sylvinet’s love evolves from this beautiful friendship. Which is why their love will be able to stand the test of time.

  15. Rose Feller and Simon Stein from In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner
  16. In Her Shoes (2005)
    The love story between Rose and Simon bears many similarities to that between Bridget and Mark, because Rose and Bridget have much in common. But, Simon is slightly different from Mark; he is less handsome but also less proud and arrogant. This is probably the reason that “I fell for him” immediately and why I sighed, cried and got excited while reading those parts of the book that deal with the development of Rose and Simon’s romance.

  17. Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry from His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
  18. The Loss of Innocence by ronairis via deviantART
    Have you ever read Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials? No? Than you really missed out on a wonderful book. Maybe you have heard of it and know that it’s highly controversial and in some religious circles it is a banned book, but that shouldn’t prevent you from reading it. Otherwise, how would you know whether it really is a “bad” book? Anyway, Lyra and Will are still very young at the end of the trilogy, but their love is so natural and so strong that many adults would envy it. And, Will is just the kind of extraordinary man whom every extraordinary woman, such as Lyra, would wish for.

  19. Marty Claridge and Clark Davis from Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke
  20. Love Comes Softly (2003)
    Sometimes love is like a hurricane but sometimes it comes softly. I think it is rather obvious which kind of love I prefer, as the romances I have listed here all develop over a longer period of time. It is especially true of Marty and Clark’s love story in Love Comes Softly. Marty is in deep mourning for her late husband; hence, she doesn’t recognize for a long time that she gradually fell in love with Clark. But, Clark is so patient, gentle and understanding that no woman could help but fall for him.
So these are my favourite romance. Do you agree? And, which are yours?

8 comments:

  1. Ahhh Bridget Jones' Diary! I forgot about that one! And you can never go wrong with Pride and Prejudice :) Great list!

    Here's my Top Ten!

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    1. Dear Jessica! Thanks for stopping by! And yeah, P&P seems THE CLASSIC romance!

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  2. I can't believe I forgot Anne and Gilbert! Doh! Great list! Now following you via RSS, btw. :D My TTTs are at LKHill and Musings on Fantasia. Happy Tuesday!

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    1. Dear Liesel! Thanks for stopping by! How could you forgot Anne and Gilbert!? That's an unforgivable mistake! Just kidding... :-D Good that you are following me, now you will never be able to forget about them, as my whole blog is pivoted on their story! Haha! Have a nice day too!

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  3. Love your list! Montgomery, Austen, Alcott and Oke are some of my favorite, well loved authors. I thought about including some of the "classic" romances but ended up going with more recent books. Here's my TTT.

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    1. Dear Rina! Thanks for commenting! Maybe, I wouldn't have chosen classics either, if it weren't for my Classics Club challenge. But of course, I love to read classics. So, it was no real sacrifice for me to put them on my TBR list. :-D

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  4. #1, #2, #3, #10...YES! Love the list :)

    Sunny @ Blue Sky Bookshelf

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    1. Dear Sunny! Thanks for stopping by and I'm happy you liked my list! BTW, my wonderful dog's name is Sunny too. :-D

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